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It’s going to be hard to imagine the Golden State Warriors without Klay Thompson after he helped lead the team to four titles, alongside Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, during his time in the Bay Area.
“I always wanted to ride out into the sunset with those two guys and have an opportunity to stay relevant from a winning perspective,” he told reporters on Sunday.
“It sucks,” Curry added in regards to Thompson’s free agency departure to the Dallas Mavericks. “It’s one of those that’s hard to kind of process just because I never imagined that this would be kind of the reality.”
From a sentimental standpoint, Thompson’s departure felt strange. From a more cold, logical take on Golden State’s roster and aspirations to build one last contender around Curry, however, it makes far more sense.
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Draymond was emotional after Klay told him he was going to Dallas 💔 pic.twitter.com/RIf1Ie3TZV
First, the financial aspect. The Warriors came into this offseason staring down the barrel of the dreaded second apron and weren’t able to make the type of moves—like trying to pull off a sign-and-trade for Paul George—that would have warranted the excessive penalties for exceeding it.
So Chris Paul and his $30 million, non-guaranteed contract, were cut rather than packaged in a deal for a star player. Thompson wasn’t retained, with the Warriors instead spreading around their available money on free-agent pickups like De’Anthony Melton, Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield.
Paul and Thompson are big names, but the Warriors are probably better today than they were at the end of last season. Melton is an excellent on-ball defender; Anderson is a solid defender and playmaker; Hield will provide floor-spacing as a fantastic perimeter shooter.
Thompson, 34, is one of the greatest shooters of all time, and that part of his game mostly remains (38.7 percent from three). But he is no longer one of the truly elite 3-and-D wings in the NBA, as age and several major injuries later in his career have cost him more than a step.
For a team like the Mavericks, who have playmakers in Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving to create open catch-and-shoot looks for Thompson—and solid athleticism and length on the defensive end throughout the roster as well—giving him a three-year, $50 million deal was justifiable. As a third scorer, he can still make a solid impact.
But for a Warriors team that was falling further and further behind the rest of the Western Conference, changes were needed. Thompson was no longer the elite second option of his prime. The Dubs needed to go in a different direction, and so did Thompson.
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“Klay is going to have a statue outside Chase someday … he’ll be beloved by his teammates, coaches and our fans forever.”
Steve Kerr offers a touching tribute to Klay Thompson’s legacy in the Bay 🥲 pic.twitter.com/BL42xK66qk
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Devin Booker says it will be an adjustment seeing Klay in a different jersey next season pic.twitter.com/DcfAZBaOml
But it was still bittersweet for Curry.
“He was in need of a change, and no, it wasn’t a situation where I felt I needed to try to convince him because he knew exactly what he meant and still means to our organization, to me as his teammate (and) to Draymond,” he said Sunday. “It’s just one of those deals where you have to trust that he’s making the right decision for himself. And I just want him to be happy. At the end of the day, he deserves that. He deserves to be able to enjoy playing basketball however long he wants to play. It does suck that it just won’t be with us.”
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