Klay Thompson Receives Cold Negotiations From Joe Lacob And Golden State Warriors | Warriors Podcast

Klay Thompson Receives Cold Negotiations From Joe Lacob And Golden State Warriors | Warriors Podcast

the business decisions that led Klay Thompson to departing from the Golden State Warriors who was in the wrong where did it go wrong and should we be concerned with Joe lob’s handling of this roster let’s talk about it right now on lockdown Warriors you are locked on Warriors your daily Golden State Warriors podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team and every day all right time to lock in everyone thank you for making lock on Warriors your first listen of every day we are free and available wherever you get Podcast and on YouTube part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day today’s episode is brought to you by Gametime download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase terms apply filling in for kylin Mills today who is On Assignment I’m Chuck Walter formerly of 957 game and CBS news bay area kpix where I covered the Warriors 2022 title run joining me is Evan Giddings of 957 the game in San Francisco to talk about ESPN’s bombshell of a report that is truly making it seem like the Warriors didn’t want Klay Thompson back or at the very least clay was their last priority let’s give you a quick little synopsis dubs owner Joe lob invites clay to a round of golf in miday and Los Angeles it was strictly golf we’re talking no discussions of contracts the team as a whole why clay was a little bit a little bit a lot frustrated the year prior so when clay unfollowed the warriors on Instagram about a month later in June it’s confirmed that he had made up his mind that he’s moving on but he did have his Camp make one final offer to the Warriors two years 20 million per season the response we just can’t do it yet the response he got this entire offseason so it feels like both parties were kind of waiting for the other to to dump each other right why did Clay throw the last offer at him if he knew he was gone and wanted to be gone and welcome Evan pleasure to be on with you Chuck it’s a great question and I I think it’s just kind of that that last you know I don’t know Olive Branch you throw out to a dying relationship and you just hope and pray to God that maybe someone sees the at the end of the day you know whether it was disrespectful whether you felt like it was respectful it was a necessary divorce and I think going back a year ago to around this time you could kind of see it coming the moment that Draymond Green signed four years100 million put pen the paper the Warriors also at the same time extended a two-year $48 million deal to Klay Thompson that was something that I felt like was a little under par considering he’s a member of the big three he clearly felt like it was as well I never felt like he was going to accept that offer the Warriors obviously didn’t either and from then on there really hasn’t been any communication from Joe lob so the fact that he took him to the Riviera and they didn’t discuss anything as far as financials as far as a future in Golden state to me was just the ending basically that was was something that kind of I don’t know festered and just sat with both sides the entire season so it was something that based on all the stories and reports you could kind of see coming and from someone like yourself who had a to cover the Warriors in person I myself do so as well for 957 the game it was apparent Midway through the season at the end of the season that this divorce was just something that kind of needed to happen yeah and this goes back to the the title season in 2122 right after the year you remember Jordan P Andrew Wiggins money time they’re gonna get paid and Klay Thompson Draymond Green both of those guys wanted to get paid eventually Draymond Green did get that four-year extension Klay Thompson was waiting for it never got it but if the opportunity arised at the beginning of the Season or last offseason I should say for that two-year $48 million deal like I I’ve heard that the the reports are alleged if he had the opportunity to put Pinn the paper why didn’t he do so did he truly want to be a warrior did he say you know what I’m gonna feel out this season and uh we’ll see what happens next offseason yeah I personally think the Warriors knew that he was not going to say yes to that contract offer which was why it was extended in the first place which is why now we’re discussing who’s at fault who’s to blame why is Klay Thompson no longer a warrior why isn’t he wrapping up with Steph Curry and Draymond Green and I think it’s because the Golden State Warriors have tried to play the optic the pr game far more than they’ve tried to play with Klay Thompson’s side of things and that could be completely understandable Klay Thompson is is a player right now that is probably not worth as much as he’s making $43 million last year for a player who at times was coming off the bench was benched in fourth quarters and of course most notably went 0 for 10 in an elimination game so he’s probably not worth that money anymore but the question is was he going to be worth it moving forward I think a combination of respect of pride of role of money was all that was all sort of that that wrapped in one reason that Klay Thompson just could not put it past both the Warriors but as well as his own you know deep down his pride so I think a Andrew Wiggins and P certainly play into this to me I also think it goes back to his injury I think the moment that the Warriors started quote unquote looking for a replacement at his position he felt like his days may or may not have been numbered and so he didn’t feel like he was respected as a member of The Big Three as a guy that is going to be a statue player as a guy that is going to be a jersey retirement player and at the end of the day he felt like it was just time and I think the warriors were kind of hoping deep down that he might feel the same way so they could move in another Direction we’ve all been there it’s the classic relationship where it’s not me we’ve all been there come on you’re you’re dating someone and the other person it’s it’s the How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days right you play it a little bit cold you hope that they end it with you bug in my throat and after they end it with you then they’re the bad guy you know then Clay is the bad guy for walking away saying we extended him $48 million last off season we said this entire offseason to just wait a little bit clay and if you wait we’re going to potentially you know throw you a deal and uh keep you in the mix here with the Golden State Warriors so I I wonder two years 20 million that was the last offer that was made but reportedly clay was already out on the idea of coming back to the Bay Area at that point let’s say he throws out you know he does want to stay in the bay in a hypothetical world and says I’m going to go $15 million a year does Joe lob entertain that thing or was he literally just waiting for the day that Klay Thompson said you know what I’m gonna move on and uh that that’s where Joe just kind of said all right that was our plan all along like what’s your take on that I I think the body language from the Warriors side of things it indicates to me that they they were out like they they did not want Klay Thompson to be a part of the team and I I think it’s Klay Thompson sort of being a product or a consequence of circumstance because of the new CBA that’s coming in the amount amount of money that they had spent on a team that didn’t make the playoffs and the fact that Klay Thompson was a free agent I think if things had been different if Draymond Green had been the man up this year or if perhaps Andrew Wiggins was a free agent this off season we would be in a similar situation it just so happened that Klay Thompson was the guy and to be fair to the Warriors they did offer him a contract he bet on himself and he lost so I think that at the end of the day the Warriors found that whatever money that they were going to divvy up to him could have been 20 million could have been a little bit less which is of course what he’s taking with the Dallas Mavericks I felt like they just came to a conclusion that that money was better spent elsewhere it also helps move them and transition them into a potential post dynastic or post big three era which was going to be inevitable anyways Klay Thompson 34 years old Draymond Green same age Steph Curry gonna be 37 next season eventually they have to figure out a way to move into the next iteration of Golden State Warriors basketball and Klay Thompson happens to be the first Domino so why not the transparency when someone’s given 13 years of his life to an organization has won four NBA championships it’s been a five-time Allstar aside from what 14 months of his career or whatever has been really a pretty easy player to to manage and to handle and has kept his emotions in check has been a leader at times where you know Draymond Green has been a leader on the floor but emotionally sometimes you know I’d say Klay Thompson’s carried himself a little bit better than Draymond Draymond gets the money clay doesn’t so why not the some people can say decency I would just say the the transparency the manto man hey we’re not actually gonna extend an offer at the end of this you know or at least anything over $16 million what you’re looking for why wouldn’t he just tell them I think they kind of did by the non-communication that was reported in all these things but I hate that I hate that you know the the ghosting method it’s the ghosting method I’m a sales guy now and as a sales guy you you take meetings you present you you try to get that sale and they say you know fall up with me you follow up with them they say fall up in a month they say fall up after the Fourth of July they say follow up around Christmas AKA you’re not getting the damn sale I’m not making any money it’s as simple as that Evan I wish someone would just say you know what we don’t want your products buddy get out of here that’s in this situation a fair comparison I feel like true true and and and who knows you know maybe if I don’t know Klay Thompson had been willing to immediately take a HomeTown discount had been willing to come off the bench had been willing to be the mentor had been willing to do all these things right from the get-go had been willing to be you know the most selfless member most selfless version of himself perhaps but both you and I know Chuck that ain’t Klay Thompson I mean the reason why Steph Curry’s beloved is because he’s the hero he’s the icon he’s the legend Draymond Green’s the heartbeat it rubs people the wrong way sometimes but he can be in you know incredible other times Klay Thompson’s the most human and you just talked about How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days I mean it took less than that I think over the course of the off season because Klay Thompson is just a guy that you do not play hard ball with and so I think the Warriors also knew that because again he’d been there for 13 years it wasn’t like they didn’t know this cat and didn’t it wasn’t like they they understood that they could kind of well treat him like this or treat him like that no you know how you got to treat Klay Thompson you got to treat Klay Thompson and kind of play Kate to him if you don’t want to do that well then he’s going to end up in a place like Dallas and I think they knew that from the beginning which was why there was not as much forwardness from them not as much transparency because there was just an understanding that they were not going to be able to make this work and at the end of the day 13 years is a long time you got four chips it was a great run tip your cap and be on your way and hopefully you can get your fifth somewhere else all good things must come to an end and if he gets his fist somewhere else hopefully it’s uh not not taken down the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals in years to come coming up we’re talking about the future of the Warriors where do they go from here and are you concerned at all with the front office not being on the same page baseball season is underway and I’m working on a lifetime dream of mine get to every ballpark in the major leagues I’ve been to like five Evan but game time is helping me complete my mission game time makes getting tickets faster and easier with just a few clicks on the app plus if if you’re like me and make plans to go to a baseball game about 30 minutes prior guess what tickets go down in price the closer you get to first pitch take the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code locked on NBA for $20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price price guaranteed are you watching Fox Sports or ESPN on your TV all day do you turn down the volume with all that shouting make the switch to locked on sports today a free 247 sports streaming Channel programmed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming locked on sports today brings you can’t miss analysis opinions and news streaming 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channel app part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day so sources have said that the Warriors have known Kay was out for a few weeks this is not breaking news in the last few days the reports say that clay met with Kerr in Los Angeles told him I’m out that’s a week before free agency began um Saturday at the end of June what I find so strange he because he also called Draymond and Steph told them I want a fresh start please don’t use use your organizational clout to try and keep me here it’s over guys what’s so strange to me is Mike Dunley and Steve cerr at the end of last season said that the offseason one of their biggest missions was to retain Clay Thompson still a very valuable piece they needed him for their success moving forward Joe lob clearly said otherwise is this front office on the same page what page are they on and how worried are you about the uh the differing opinions and all that transpired in the last few months SE since the season ended well I think the front office is on Joe lob’s page and to be fair I think they have been for quite some time and it’s resulted in a lot of success I mean it’s not as if Joe lake has been able to you know he’s not moving this thing in the wrong direction I mean when he bought this thing they were less than a billion and now they’re the second or third most valuable franchise across sports in the world so it’s not as if his direction is a bad Direction but I think we have come to a Crossroads of if the front office is heading in a I should say unilateral Direction because I do think that Joe lob wants to be relevant I think he wants to mean the Limelight I mean he grew up a Celtics fan he’s fascinated with Jerry bust and the Lakers he wants to be a part of tinl town he wants to make Chase Center this Acropolis on the west coast and it is and it has been to be fair however I feel like some members of the front office Allah Mike Dunley what I’ve seen so far from him is Mike dun Le has done a fantastic job of grooming developmental pieces being able to identify draft picks being able to get the most out of you know kind of um salary smaller salaries being able to find Diamonds in the Rough so if you are a team that wants to be in the Limelight Diamonds in the Rough doesn’t sound like something that’s going to happen overnight if you want to use those Diamonds in the Rough some of those pieces to go out and swing a big deal which is what I think tried to do with Paul George but Steve Balmer and the Clippers weren’t playing baseball well then in that case you’re going to have to take a different direction so I do think it’s not necessarily if they’re on the same page I think they’re all under all on lob’s page but lob might need to understand that this is not just going to be Patchwork material that you can’t just put a Band-Aid over this thing and then all of a sudden be back in glory that it might take some time and that you might have to trust the guy that you hired to replace the executive of the Year B Myers that you hired to help replace someone who just passed away an alltime Legend in Jerry West so they need to find I think a front office you know kind of vision and stick to it and that’s why I think it’s an inflection point of Crossroads this offseason that’s fascinating to follow the vision obviously follows something along the lines of putting a team around Steph Curry for his winning years that can at least compete for championships with the team that’s assembled right now are we on the same page here like the the fan base that thinks all right we’re not going to miss a step let’s bring in Lori Markin in let’s trade potential kaminga packages or let’s throw in a potential package with Moses moody or some of these young players that a lot of people think still have some talent and um plenty to prove this upcoming season and will be taking starters minutes this upcoming season and uh a big time Le for you when you dissect everything that’s going down with the Warriors do you see somewhat of a rebuild coming if they strike out on some of these big-time names and is that okay with you or are you in the camp that they need to go out and land someone that I I don’t want to just say has a name because we don’t want your name we want your game someone that fits into the plan which we’re trying to still figure out what that plan is to me it seems like they want to be a little bit bigger a little bit faster a little bit uh better defensively and younger quite frankly yeah I think the question is when the rebuild happens I think right now they’re trying to retool and I think they would have been willing to retool with Paul George who was one of my personal favorite potential Acquisitions this off season I thought if Jimmy Butler was getable that was a name that they should have gone after but of course he was off the board we’ve heard LeBron James as far as trade talks we’ve heard male Bridges we’ve heard Paul George and now the final fish that’s in the pond apparently is Lori marinin so I do think inevitably a rebuild is coming the question is how long you can delay it while remaining competitive with curry that’s a very delicate dance to do my biggest issue with someone like marinin is if you swing and you miss you move the rebuild back not just further but you prolong it for an extended period of time because I think it’s somebody that’s going to cost multiple first round selections and again I just mentioned that Mike Den Ley Jr has not proven or disproven that he you know is is out of his out of his realm in the draft so I think he can do a really good job with those picks I would rather have him prove that he can’t pick and hit on players than simply strip that away from him for a player that in my opinion is not going to catapult you back into Championship contention I think the only player out there that was getable for the Warriors that could have done that and that’s a big if is Paul George and to me it sucks to say because I was a Allin help step maximiz him type of guy at the beginning of the offseason but again I just don’t see very many fish in the pond and I’m out I’m not out here trying to use all my bait this one off season to go get a little you know minnow I’m not trying to do that I’m trying to go get a bass I’m trying to get a Marlin and to me right now those are just not in the pond for the Warriors of fish a bass a big mouth bass so the moves that the Warriors have made to start things up off obviously Clay is gone the Warriors have moved on from Thompson pretty quickly signing DeAnthony Melton to a one-year 12.8 million deal uh when he’s healthy and that’s very important when he’s healthy because he’s dealt with injuries back injuries too which are never a good thing throughout the course of his career but when he’s healthy he’s a playmaker defensively um athletically over six seasons teams significantly better with him on the floor in five of those seasons the difference was north of six plus points per 100 possessions you look at someone that can be a three indeed type player transitional attacker or you know if paj jimsky is your guy as your your shooting guard he could be the lead guard of the second unit and uh really a point of attack stopper Warriors also had Kyle Anderson on a three-year $27 million contract um so they get Anderson who is really a three ball away from having the full package good Defender and at 6 fo n can you know can can play a little bit of that four position not the defensive stopper that Draymond Green is but is a pretty good defensive player so you add those two to the mix and Quenton Post in the NBA draft and now the Warriors are in the mix with Buddy heeld reportedly so we could see buddy as a shooter that replaces Klay Thompson you also add in uh Lindy Waters from the Oklahoma City Thunder he joins the mix so the Warriors have been doing some damage they’ve just been doing it with the old less is more approach spending less money getting more players hoping that some of these players gel together and pop and quite frankly I think they’re going with a more defensive a more athletic and somewhat of a younger approach to replace Klay Thompson and Chris Paul this offseason so you add in the guys I just mentioned are the Warriors that much worse off than they were two weeks ago because it seems like a lot of people are saying that the Warriors are toast when in reality it doesn’t seem like they got that much worse I think it depends on how good you think Clay Thomson and Chris Paul were I’ll tell you this they certainly got a lot less grown-ups in the room and some of those grown-ups might also be necessary voices that they didn’t need so I think the Warriors being seen as better to me I think they absolutely can be better I mean two years ago they got rid of Jordan pool and they brought in a 38-year old point guard and they took four steps forward as far as games I don’t know if a lot of people had that coming now of course they didn’t make the playoffs and they didn’t win a playoff series but they were a better regular season team last year than they were coming off of the championship I seen no reason to believe that they can’t maintain that 45 to you know 46 win floor and potentially improve based off of Health based on regression I think if Draymond Green plays more games if Andrew wiggin shows a pulse should he still be on the team next season that’s somebody to keep an eye on moving in the positive direction and then I think their signings like you mentioned you know turning Klay Thompson into three quality pieces is not nothing and DeAnthony Melton is somebody that is kind of an analytic darling shot at 38% from three the last few years the only reason he’s probably on the Warriors is because he only played 38 games I think his Market might have been a lot bigger Kyle Anderson is a guy who just came off the Western Conference Finals appearance and I think also the Warriors had their eye on those two players from their playoff series two years ago against Memphis so I think the Warriors look they did the best that they could and nobody wants to hear that but I think there’s a very real possibility that they are just as good as they were last year the difference is they won’t be as flashy and you won’t have that Nostalgia that emotional attachment to a player like Klay Thompson of course and even a player like Chris Paul so this off season when you look at Brandon psky and you look at Jonathan kaminga Moses Moody tra Jackson Davis who’s the wild card and it can’t be kaminga because at this point kaminga is a damn good basketball player let’s let’s call it what it is can he ever be elite because he has the package and the the freakish talent that I mean he seems like an All-Star in the making to me if he could put the pieces together can he be higher than an All-Star and be one of the faces of the NBA he’s still young you got to wait and see so let’s take him out of the picture of being a wild card between Brandon between Trac Jackson Davis and Moses Moody who to you is the guy that you think will step up this year and lead the Warriors to a better season than I think right now a lot of fans are predicting I I think it’s the guy that has constantly lived in the shadow of Jonathan kaminga and yet has never made a stink about it it’s Mr Stay Ready Moses Moody and if you’re telling me that this guy can shoot North can shoot an average from three-point range I don’t see why he can’t also start potentially by the end of the year for this team I know Pensky is someone that’s been almost pegged as the number two or as the starting two but I think Moses Moody profiles is a better Defender than than Pensky if he can shoot it adequately enough from three I think the spacing is good enough to keep him on the floor the issue is that Moses just didn’t have enough of a Runway cleared for him and I feel like that’s another part of moving on from Klay Thompson is now you can finally see some of these young players Moody probably more of a three than a two at this point because he’s not as quick as pods but I don’t see any reason why with 20 to 25 minutes a game whether it’s Off the Bench or even sometimes as a starter replacing guys that are hurt all of the rest that he can’t be a guy that really pops this year and shows you why he was a first round pick and even going back to draft Knight a couple of years ago in 2021 some people may have had him in the top 10 of the first round so I think it’s got to be Moses Moody and if he pops I think we are looking at a pretty decent Warriors team and a core four quite honestly of those young players you just named that look a lot better on the Warriors than if they traded them this offseason yeah I think they added in some um interesting piece interesting pieces to say the least I mean Kyle Anderson plays the game a little bit slower but I I do like a skill set that he adds in a lot of the uh pundits are saying that Anderson May remind Warriors fans of like a Shawn Livingston type you add him into the fold you’re not expecting a ton from Kyle Anderson offensively but a piece that you plug in there in the second unit and not a lot of people are um super super thrilled about it and you should be because he’s a good player and um the same can be said for Melton but Evan good stuff my man thanks for coming on the show today uh gotta do it again sometime and I got to tell you about this Evan lockon has launched the first ever National Sports 247 streaming Channel on YouTube it’s also available on Amazon Fire TV and the free Fire TV channels app locked on sports today is here for you 247 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local Experts of locked on plus our national shows covering every League find locked on sports today now available on the free Fire TV channels app Evan have a great Fourth of July my man good seeing you long time no see and uh go dubs man take care absolutely hey just be careful with the hooster dos and whooster don’ts on July 4th all right stay a little careful out there don’t drink and drive don’t put your head in fire fireworks do not put your head in fireworks and remember sparklers although they sell them at local gas stations they are indeed dangerous thanks for coming on EV appreciate you Chuck see you everybody locked on Warriors

NBA Free Agency is underway and the Golden State Warriors have been very busy. The biggest news has been the lack of effort in retaining their 4X champion. Did Joe Lacob and the #warriors truly have plans to make an attempt at Thpmpson this summer? Chuck Walter and Evan Giddings break down how Klay’s career in the Bay wrapped up and how the Dubs are looking to retool now, and moving forward.

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