Where Klay Thompson will play next season remains a mystery, with the prolific shooting guard’s impending free agency shaping up to be a marquee storyline of the 2024 NBA offseason.
Former Warriors general manager Bob Myers, who spent more than a decade in Golden State with Thompson, weighed in on the five-time NBA All-Star’s unrestricted free agency. Myers detailed the connection between the Warriors’ three foundational players, while also revealing why he thinks Thompson’s desire is ultimately to stay in Golden State.
“I will say this. Huge respect to Klay Thompson, Steph Curry and Draymond Green,” Myers, now an ESPN analyst, said on Wednesday’s “NBA Countdown.” “I don’t know if people know or believe in the competitiveness of those three. You don’t do what they did for all the time they did it without being special inside.
“Obviously we see what they do shooting-wise – Steph and Klay – and what Draymond does defensively. But who they are as people is rare. So it’s hard for me to see Klay heading almost even heading into free agency. I don’t even think he knew the date of free agency. Most players go through free agency five or six times.
“What that tells me is he wants to be there. You heard Steve Kerr last night, you heard Steph Curry, Draymond Green. They all want him there.”
But will Thompson stay? That question remains, and for Myers, it comes down to one thing: money.
“Klay will stay if he feels like he’s been appreciated and paid the right amount,” Myers said. “But if he’s not, that’s the question.
“It’s always a kind of pride, because it’s not a question of money. People will say, “Well, Klay Thompson made all that money. ” GOOD. But you know what? There is an element of pride for any professional athlete. So it’s not just about money. He no longer needs money for the rest of his life. But that’s not the point. If someone comes in and doubles the Warriors’ offer, things could change.”
While Thompson’s impending free agency has drawn attention to Golden State’s offseason to-do list, Myers reiterated that the overall results of the roster as a whole are problematic for a team that had the highest payroll in the NBA this season.
“What do the Warriors do? It’s not just about Klay Thompson. That’s the tough question,” Myers said. “We’re talking about Klay Thompson, but there are other things that need to be answered. Because you bring this team back and Klay Thompson comes back, it’s not the end of what we’ve seen as a healthy team that is acceptable to Joe Lacob and who pays.”
Although the Warriors finished the season with two more wins than the previous year, they fell from the No. 6 seed to the No. 10 seed before being dispatched by the Sacramento Kings in the tournament NBA Play-In.
Despite an aging core — Curry is 36, while Thompson and Green are both 34 — there appears to be plenty of tread on the tires of the Warriors Big Three, leaving questions about how long the legendary group will be able to to stay together.
Thompson overcame a rough start to the campaign to become one of the league’s most consistent shooters during the second half of the regular season, a humbling reminder that the five-time NBA All-Star still has enormous value in a league who can never have. enough elite level shots.
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