Klay Thompson is set for free agency and — barring a dramatic mood shift — the Warriors and Thompson are more than prepared for his fairly imminent departure from the Bay Area. So prepared, an NBA source indicated this weekend, that some cordial goodbyes have been shared between Klay and high-ranking members of the Warriors’ organization.
And Paul George, the Warriors’ home run target for acquisition this offseason, wiped out the final year of his contract with the LA Clippers and became an unrestricted free agent, which basically cut off any realistic path for the Warriors because they don’t have the cap room to sign him as a free agent.
This came after very serious negotiations among the Warriors, George and the Clippers all the way through Saturday afternoon’s deadline for George’s contract decision and after the Warriors believed — several times — that they were on the verge of landing the 34-year-old small forward, team sources said.
The Warriors had agreed to give George a max, four-year extension upon arrival. They believed they had proposed several variations of a trade that the Clippers could and would accept. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green were 100 percent on board. George gave strong indications he wanted to join the Warriors. But the Clippers never agreed to any version of a trade, and now George is a free agent and essentially beyond the Warriors’ reach.
• Thompson didn’t love his experience last season and said so. Many times. He didn’t love getting moved to the bench for a few games behind Podziemski. He didn’t love the questions we asked about his future. He didn’t love the national attention on his occasional struggles, obviously including his 0-for-10 shooting night in the Play-In loss to the Sacramento Kings. He really didn’t love that the Warriors put a higher priority on figuring out how to upgrade the roster than on bringing him back this offseason.
Largely, I think Thompson didn’t love being compared with himself from another era, before his two major leg injuries, when he could guard anybody and turn any game into a personal piece of NBA shooting history. He wanted a fresh start. He’s going to get one. He’s also going to come to Chase Center with his new team and want to beat the Warriors; maybe not bitterly, maybe a bit bitterly, but it will be fun to watch.
• Thompson likely wasn’t going to be a starter if he remained with the Warriors this season. It was going to be Podziemski. Or Moody. Or somebody else. I’m not sure Thompson wanted to go through that again, and I’m guessing the Warriors wouldn’t have loved it, either. It seems like a cold conclusion to this unbelievable tenure, but it was inevitable.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5604503/2024/06/29/warriors-paul-george-klay-thompson-kawakami/
by bambam-in-vietnam
39 Comments
This is gonna be like seeing Tony Parker in a Hornets jersey
It doesn’t even feel right
Damn I hate the Warriors but wish the core 3 were able to stick together for their entire careers:
Sounds like he already had a hand shake deal somewhere other than the warriors. I’m guess the lakers.
Adam silver should investigate the tampering and take away their 2024 55th pick
Jesus, the fucking drama. Sounds like he’s dying of cancer
Inb4 klay re-signs for 3+1 contract
If he’s worried about the fan/media chatter when he has bad games, it’ll be 100x worse if he leaves.
>He didn’t love the national attention on his occasional struggles,
Oof, then maybe going to the Lakers might not be best for his psyche
> He didn’t love the national attention on his occasional struggles, obviously including his 0-for-10 shooting night in the Play-In loss to the Sacramento Kings
going to the lakers is such a good idea to combat this, lakers fans and national media definitely won’t be having complete fucking meltdowns with the type of nights he was having
I love Klay, but he gotta to change the way he approaches the game now. He is not starter worthy, has 1 in 6 games where he goes absolutely bananas – then has next 5 games where he does more harm than good.
Strictly, a bench player now who can play a good 25 minutes max , and no green light to shoot the shit out of the ball. That’s his future now.
Klay you drama queen
Is Klay going to start on whatever team he goes to?
Very curious what the trade packages for PG were for the clippers to reject it.
Can we at least keep the Rocco in the divorce?
The fans will miss him terribly, but if Klay is blaming everyone else for how badly last year went for him, you have to figure he hasn’t learned anything.
There were moments in the season where he looked to make plays for others, not force shots early in the clock, gave good effort on defense, didn’t pout on nights when his shot didn’t fall, but those nights were few and far in-between. If he could sustain those stretches, not only would the Warriors have sought to bring him back with more excitement, but they would have paid him more and viewed him as a starter, because he can still be valuable.
I hope he figures it out wherever he goes next, but this situation isn’t on anyone but him.
Can we take a step back and appreciate this sports writing?
Most gonna regret this just like Parker and Wade did when they left their franchises out of pride. Damn shame on him.
yeahh zach is a warrior isnt he
Fucking clippers. Now you lose PG for nothing.
I think Klay is going to be in for a rude reality check when he doesn’t get the same acceptance from teammates/coaches/fans to jack up the types of shots he’s used to jacking up with the Warriors
Hope he enjoys the lakers positive and supportive fan base !
If you go back and watch that kings warriors play in game, everyone was clowning he didn’t know what court he was on but he was taking it in then cause he knew he was done then
If Klay didn’t love the media attention in the Bay, wait until the ‘LeBron has no help’ chatter once the Lakers get two weeks into the season.
Literally reading this shaking my head, confused at the drama unfolding in Klay’s mind. If we take the report at face value, dude is so in his head. Write a list of all the good in your life homie. Lmao.
I guess my question now is what do the Warriors do now? What can they do? Paul Georgie isn’t coming, Klay is gone, not really any good FA out there. Steph is still playing at a very high level so officially starting the rebuild or whatever doesn’t make sense. Also CP3 and maybe Wiggins are gone. I’m really curious what the FO does.
Here’s what I’m confused about: the reporting over the last few days makes me think this is unfixable but when did this become the case? I get why Klay’s upset about the PG trade talks but it seemed pretty clear that he was going to be gone before then because the Warriors weren’t giving him what he wanted salary wise in order to duck the second apron but now he’ll sign with the Lakers for the MLE after turning down more money last season before any of this? What happened?
I wish him all the best wherever he ends up.
Scottie Pippen Syndrome
Dude was terrible last year, couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. I wouldn’t go after him unless he came really cheap, he had the most beautiful shot in the NBA and was very quality, but injuries and loss of confidence have ruined him.
Ah yes, sick of the scrutiny in SF, so makes sense to go to LA, since LeBron is famously chill and not passive-aggressive when you struggle
Fuck
Funniest thing is all these lakers fans already defending klay’s honor like hes a laker lmfao
he would fit in with what the lakers are trying to do (load up on 3pt threats) but the spotlight could hurt him and his ego if he struggles.
the mavs would be a better fit if you take away the media attention because they need the same help.
Mad about the contract offer but happily took $100M to recover from ACL for 2 years
Is that Jerry Reisndorf’s ticket sales music??
He should retire, his game is sad.
How about Bucks? Seems like a generally low-key franchise since forever.
Klay, I love you and all you’ve done for the Warriors and the NBA. I wish you success and happiness.
So instead of the Clippers getting something out of PG he’s now an unrestricted free agent and could walk away for nothing. Why would the Clippers do this?
Paul George max was a horrible deal, glad we didn’t do it
Would the heat be possible? Might help with his health, training, conditioning.