The Warriors have yet to strike a deal with impending free agent wing Klay Thompson, but that’s not to say the team recently hasn’t made efforts.
Just Wednesday, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reported on “The Hoop Collective” podcast with fellow co-hosts Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps that Golden State offered Thompson a deal before he is eligible to test unrestricted free agency on June 30.
"We've heard that it's a two-year offer," McMahon said (h/t Sports Illustrated’s Tom Dierberger). "It's as much about years as dollars in some of these cases."
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The co-hosts didn’t share any financial information regarding Golden State’s offer to Thompson.
But Windhorst noted that the five-time NBA All-Star likely will not be willing to take a pay cut that rivals those of his aging teammates.
“It’s fair to point out that when Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green recently took pay cuts, neither of them -- I think if you put Wiggins’ and Greens’ pay cuts together, [I don’t] think it will average the pay cut they were probably going to want Klay to take -- down to the 20s (millions),” Windhorst added.
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“But when Wiggins and Draymond took pay cuts, they got four-year deals. And if you’re Klay, those are interesting factors… This isn’t so much about money as it is about respect…”
No one wants to lose out on dollars. However, the four-year contracts Wiggins and Green signed show long-term commitment on Golden State’s end, which Thompson, rightfully so, clearly wants.
Unfortunately, the NBA’s free-agent market isn’t friendly nor nostalgic in the face of mediocre prospects.
Thompson, who has had two season-ending leg injuries, will turn 35 during the 2024-25 NBA season. He also is coming off one of the poorer seasons of his storied 13-year NBA career, in which he averaged 17.9 points on 43.2-percent shooting from the field and 38.7 percent from the 3-point line.
Clearly, Thompson yearns for that last star-sized, long-term deal from the only franchise he has ever known. But the NBA is a business.
Golden State did offer Thompson a two-year contract before the 2023-24 regular season, but nothing came of it for reasons unspecified.
Only time will tell which uniform one of the best two-way sharpshooters in league history is to dawn in the fall.