The Golden State Warriors and guard Klay Thompson are heading into the offseason with uncertainty clouding their futures together. The veteran is a free agent and the team’s wage bill is already above the Luxury Tax threshold, making it likely they’ll head their separate ways. However, following their season-ending loss to the Sacramento Kings in the play-in tournament, head coach Steve Kerr claimed the franchise wants to bring Thompson back next season and will look to retain his services, as seen in Anthony Slater’s X [Formerly Twitter] post.
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Steve Kerr: “We need Klay back…He still has good years left…We desperately want him back.”
Full soundbite pic.twitter.com/0GRnjZGoyI
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 17, 2024
On Thursday’s episode of the Gil’s Arena podcast, retired NBA star Gilbert Arenas chimed in on the situation. He claimed that Thompson will wait for the biggest offer he can get and the Warriors will match it to extend his stay with the franchise. He also added that the Warriors will solve their salary cap issues by trading one of the veterans during this upcoming offseason.
“When it’s all said and done, they are going to try to get off [Andrew] Wiggins’ deal because that could be [Jonathan] Kuminga’s spot. Because you got [Stephen] Curry, Klay [Thompson], Kuminga and Draymond [Green]. If they can insert Kuminga in that 3 spot and go into free agency and see what you can get back, it sounds like a better deal.”
Andrew Wiggins is projected to be the Warriors’ third-highest player behind Stephen Curry and Chris Paul next season. Trading him and waiving Paul would create over $52 million in cap space, enough to re-sign Thompson and add another impact player to their roster in free agency, as Arenas suggested. So, Arenas could be on to something here.
That said, the Warriors haven’t indicated they’d be open to trading Wiggins yet. However, given their salary cap situation, just about every option is likely on the table for the franchise.
Andrew Wiggins’ poor campaign
Since being instrumental in the Golden State Warriors winning the 2024 NBA championship, Andrew Wiggins has been somewhat of a mixed bag for the franchise. Especially during the 2023-24 season, he had the worst campaign of his career, averaging a career-low in points (13.2) and assists (1.7) alongside shooting an unremarkable 45.3% from the field and 35.8% from beyond the arc, per Statmuse.
Wiggins was honest about his mediocre campaign during the Warriors’ exit interviews on Thursday. The following is what he said, as per NBCS.
“My season was not too good. I feel like I started picking it up in the second half of the season. But first half, it wasn’t too good.”
“My season was not too good.”
Wiggins on his season and how he improved in the second half pic.twitter.com/pm5eGNsoOQ
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 17, 2024
Wiggins has three years left on his deal with the Warriors and teams looking for a veteran forward could show interest in acquiring the former All-Star. Amidst this, Golden State’s top brass has plenty to ponder in the coming weeks and Wiggins’ future with the franchise could be one of the conversations they speak about more than any other to solve their cap issues and retain Thompson’s services.
