Warriors in danger of losing 1 star player after season?
Mar 20, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr encourages his players during the fourth quarter against the San Antonio Spurs at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports
The Golden State Warriors may find it more difficult than anticipated to keep their championship core together.
Klay Thompson is entering the final season of a 5-year, $189.9 million max contract extension he signed in 2019. Many have assumed the Warriors will continue to pay their massive luxury tax bill and do what it takes to extend Thompson, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski says the two sides are nowhere close to making that happen.
During Sunday’s edition of “NBA Countdown,” Wojnarowski said Thompson and the Warriors have made “absolutely no progress” toward an extension.
“They are both still apart on years and money. There’s a very real possibility that Klay Thompson goes into free agency next summer without a deal,” Wojnarowski said. “I think that’s where it gets complicated for Golden State and becomes something of a high-wire act, especially if Klay Thompson duplicates this year the kind of season he had last year. … I think for Golden State this has the chance to become the first real test of keeping that core of Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.”
Reporting for NBA Countdown on the Klay Thompson extension talks, including ESPN analyst Bob Myers' window into the negotiating stakes for the Golden State Warriors and the franchise's storied guard pic.twitter.com/YpZaIppooU
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 16, 2023
After missing all of the 2019-20 season with a torn ACL and playing in just 32 games in the 2021-22 season, Thompson looked as healthy as ever last year. He averaged 21.9 points per game and shot 41.2% from three-point range. He led the NBA with 301 three-pointers made, which was the highest mark of his career.
Barring an injury or something unforeseen, there will likely be plenty of teams that want to sign Thompson to a huge contract next summer. He would probably have to take less to remain with the Warriors. A recent report made it sound like Thompson is willing to do that, but perhaps the situation is more complicated than it seems.