On Tuesday, the Golden State Warriors‘ roller-coaster season came to an unceremonious halt following their season-ending 118-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings at the Golden 1 Center. Veteran Klay Thompson dropped the worst performance of his career at the most inopportune juncture, which has started to cast shadows on his Warriors’ future.
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Klay shot 0-10 from the field, including 0-6 from beyond the arc, and failed to draw any fouls as he finished the game with 0 points for the first time in almost 13 years. He last finished a game with zero in the second game of his rookie campaign.
Thompson’s performance doesn’t bode well for his future as he’s set to become a free agent in the offseason. The Warriors reportedly haven’t held any contract discussions with the four-time NBA champion prompting speculation that his nightmare outing against the Kings would be his final act with the franchise. However, head coach Steve Kerr sang a different tune in the post-game press conference. When asked about Thompson’s future, the veteran coach said,
“We need Klay [Thompson] back [next season]. I know he had a tough night tonight. [But] what he represents for us, the spacing. We are not a deep-shooting team. We are low top-heavy. And Klay’s presence means so much to the spacing on the floor, the flow of the offense.
Claiming that he speaks for everybody on the org, Kerr believes that Klay has some more years left in his career. He further added,
“Obviously there’s business at hand and that has to be addressed with Klay’s representatives… But what Klay has meant to this franchise, as good as he still is, we desperately want him back.”
Thompson has spent his entire career with the Warriors and has been a critical contributor to their four title-winning runs. Kerr understandably wants the veteran guard to retire with the franchise, but it’ll take compromises on both ends for their partnership to continue.
Klay Thompson’s uncertain future with the Warriors
Klay Thompson had a rough campaign this season. He averaged 17.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists, and shot 38.7% from beyond the arc. This marked the first campaign since the 2013-14 season where Thompson averaged less than 20 points per game.
In April 2023, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the veteran guard expected a “max-level contract extension” from the Warriors, but that did not come through.
Fast forward a year and Thompson is set to become a free agent on the back of an underwhelming campaign. The 34-year-old guard is finishing his last big contract and per NBA insider Marc Stein, the Orlando Magic are interested in signing the four-time NBA champion.
The Magic are a young team that needs a veteran presence like Thompson and can outbid the Warriors in their quest to sign the guard. Florida would be an attractive landing spot for the Warriors icon, as there are no state taxes, unlike California, which has the highest state tax in the US. Unless Thompson takes a pay cut or Golden State believes that the 34-year-old guard is worth a massive multi-year extension, they are likely heading toward a separation in the offseason.
