Preliminary analysis: not so good so far! (But check back after a week or two for the final decision.)
Klay Thompson is ready for free agency and — barring a dramatic mood swing — the Warriors and Thompson are bracing for his fairly imminent departure from the Bay Area. With so much preparation, an NBA source indicated this weekend that some cordial goodbyes have been shared between Klay and high-ranking members of the Warriors organization.
And Paul George, the Warriors’ home run target for acquisitions this offseason, wiped out the final year of his contract with the LA Clippers and became an unrestricted free agent, which basically cut off any realistic path for the Warriors Because he didn’t have cap room they signed him as a free agent.
This came after very serious negotiations between the Warriors, George and the Clippers during the Saturday afternoon deadline for George’s contract decision and after the Warriors admitted – multiple times – that they were on the verge of landing the 34-year-old small forward . , team sources said.
The Warriors agreed to give George a maximum four-year extension upon arrival. He believed that he proposed several forms of trade that the Clippers could and would accept. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green were 100 percent on board. George has given strong indications that he wants to join the Warriors. But the Clippers never agreed to any version of the trade, and George is now a free agent and essentially beyond the Warriors’ reach.
There’s still a lot to be covered before free agency begins on Sunday. And the current big-board tally is that the Warriors are about to lose one of their three dynasty players and one of the most popular athletes in Bay Area history had they not acquired the great two-way wing they’ve been chasing. Were, they’ve embroiled Andrew Wiggins, among others, in trade talks, and now they have to decide whether to guarantee Chris Paul’s $30 million contract for next season and figure out whether they can transfer it into business.
No net profit. A fundamental loss. There is still a lot left to do. And what’s at stake is the final phase of Curry’s prime.
The Warriors don’t have the ability to sign Paul George, who appears here along with Luka Doncic as a free agent. (Jerome Miron/USA TODAY)
Let’s take a point-by-point look at what happened over the past few days and how it determines what the Warriors will try to do next:
• Any potential PG13 trade between the Warriors and Clippers was always going to be complicated, but Warriors officials thought they solved the puzzle. From what I’ve heard, some combination (but certainly not all) of Wiggins, CP3, Jonathan Kuminga or Moses Moody and a future first-round pick were in discussions with the Clippers.
There were versions that limited the Clippers’ long-term money liability; There were versions that could increase future profits. I’ve been told the Warriors likely wouldn’t have put Wiggins and Kuminga together in any offer, but also that it never got that far. Had that been the case the deal might have been closed… who knows.
My understanding is that money concerns weighed heavily in the Clippers’ favor. If PG13 leaves as a free agent, they get nothing back… but they also get off the second apron and have more roster mobility.
• If the Warriors had put Kuminga in a package for George, it would have been a risk in itself. The Warriors would have given up their most valuable young player for an older player who had injury problems and would have been owed more than $260 million over the next five years, essentially locking the Warriors out of the luxury tax. Gives.
But PG13 would have been an immediate and elite 1B scoring option behind Curry, far better than any Warriors player in that role in years, and he could handle the toughest perimeter defensive assignments. Who will step into those shoes for the Warriors now? Maybe Kuminga will get something out of it. Maybe moody. Maybe even Brandin Podziemski. All this is work in progress. The Boston Celtics proved again that playoff series are won by tough, two-way wings, and the Warriors are still needy in that category. That’s why he worked so hard for George.
• There will be time later for many full reflections on Thompson’s incredible legacy with the Warriors, and he deserves every one of them. Game 6 in Oklahoma City probably deserves about 100 of them. Getting back to shooting free throws – and getting back to fumbling on defense! – He should get a thousand more monuments after tearing his ACL in the 2019 finals.
I’ll just note that, looking back, a lot of his actions and emotions over the last few months of last season were probably signs that he was getting ready to move on, from the news conference moments to the repeated Until the struggle to adapt. The throttle-down significance was epitomized on the court the previous evening after the last regular season game at Chase Center, when he wandered around the locker room asking his teammates to take a boat ride with him.
CP3 and Moody took him up on it, partly because it was obviously an honor to ride on that boat with Thompson, but I thought, because they knew what they did that night was important to him. Was.
• Thompson didn’t like his experience last season and said so. many times. He did not like being relegated to the bench for a few games behind Podziemski. He didn’t like the questions we asked about his future. He sometimes didn’t like national attention being drawn to his struggles, which obviously included his 0-for-10 shooting night in a play-in loss against the Sacramento Kings. He In fact It didn’t look good that the Warriors placed more priority on upgrading the roster rather than bringing him back this offseason.
More broadly, I think Thompson didn’t like comparing himself to another era, before his two major foot injuries, when he could guard anyone and make any play, becoming the individual player in NBA shooting history. Could have changed. He wanted a fresh start. He’s going to get one. He’s also going to be coming to Chase Center with his new team and wants to defeat the Warriors; Maybe not bitter, maybe a little bitter, but it will be fun to watch.
If Thompson remains with the Warriors this season, he likely won’t be a starter. It was going to be Podziemski. Or moody. Or someone else. I’m not sure Thompson wanted to go through that again, and I think the Warriors wouldn’t have liked it either. It seems like a cold conclusion to this incredible tenure, but it was inevitable.
The Warriors won’t be any better without Thompson. They will miss his shooting, his personality, his sarcastic humor and everything. There will be a statue of him outside the arena. Wherever there are Warriors fans, he will always receive a warm welcome. Yes, the Warriors will miss him. But with Thompson gone, they’re going to get something in a sign-and-trade deal, and they might not be too bad for it. They will be younger and possibly more athletic.
And we’ll see what else they can add over the next week or so.
• The Warriors can use the CP3 contract as a version of a trade exception – they can negotiate with Paul to guarantee him at any amount agreed to by both parties and if there is a good trade, use that to trade. Can do to balance.
If the Warriors can’t get a trade, they could release CP3, get under the apron and luxury tax and maybe even under the cap line (depending on how they handle a potential Thompson sign-and- What type of money is withdrawn in the trade). They can see what else they can get for Wiggins. As it stands, they would have the taxpayer midtier exception of $5.2 million and could reach the non-taxpayer midtier exception of $12.9 million if they move Wiggins and get very little money in return.
• I’ll use another quote from Thompson from that seminal end-of-season news conference to close this out. Thompson was asked about his reaction to Curry, Draymond and Steve Kerr saying how much they want him back. Again, Thompson said these words in April, but they seem especially appropriate right now.
“It means a lot,” Thompson said. “I mean, we’ve been through the highest ups and downs. Whether it’s losing the championship, winning the championship, missing the playoffs, we’ve been through it all together, so it means a lot. It makes me grateful for the time I spent with them. Like, that was quite a historic thing.”
Yeah it was. Now past tense.
(Top photo of Klay Thompson: Rocky Widener/NBAE via Getty Images)
