Report: There’s a ‘very real possibility’ Klay Thompson becomes free agent
Oct 16, 2023, 10:27 AM
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 13: Stephen Curry #30 and Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriors wait on the bench before a preseason game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on October 13, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Could this be the last year we see Klay Thompson in a Golden State Warriors uniform?
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but the Warriors forward is entering the last year of his five-year, nearly $200 million extension he signed in 2019.
Ahead of the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors preseason game Sunday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski joined NBA Countdown to provide an update on where Thompson and the team are in terms of an extension. Currently, he said, there’s no progress between the two sides on an extension.
“Both still apart on years and money, and there’s a very real possibility that Klay Thompson goes into free agency next summer without a deal and I think that’s where it gets complicated for Golden State. It becomes something of a high-wire act, especially if Klay Thompson duplicates this year the kind of season he had last year,” Wojnarowski said, adding this could test Golden State’s ability of keeping the core three of Thomspn, Steph Curry and Draymond Green together. “You know in the marketplace teams value shooting, they value high-level wing defense.”
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
Bob Myers, former Warriors general manager and current ESPN analyst, added after Woj’s report that Klay wants to stay and the Warriors want to keep him.
“Doesn’t mean it will happen, but it is a test,” Myers said. “It’s certainly a test like Woj said, this is probably the first real test.”
Thompson was selected by the Warriors 11th overall in the 2011 NBA Draft. A year later, Golden State selected Draymond Green and the team’s three core players — Curry, Thompson and Green — have played together ever since. Since 2015, they’ve brought home four NBA championships.
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