The Golden State Warriors are preparing to lose four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson in free agency, marking an expected parting of ways between a legendary dynasty and one of its legacy players, league sources said. Athletic.
Thompson and the Warriors have had little communication and no offers have been made since the negotiating period for current free agents began about two weeks ago, team and league sources said. The Warriors had hoped to negotiate with Thompson after other commitments. But Thompson is not expected to be willing to wait as a second priority in the Warriors’ summer plans, and his side feels the Warriors’ interest in a reunion is insincere. The five-time All-Star guard is determined to find a new home somewhere beyond his 14th NBA season, and both sides believe their 13-year coexistence is over, league sources said.
The Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks are the front-runners to acquire Thompson, according to league sources. Several teams with salary-cap space are also expected to be interested in acquiring Thompson. The Mavericks already have the room to hit the market with a mid-level expected salary of $12.9 million after taking a salary cut from Tim Hardaway Jr. The Lakers have the ability to come up with the same amount, depending on where LeBron James’ next contract ends and other trades.
Golden State is operating in the market as a full non-taxable midlevel exception team for the first time in nearly a decade due to Thompson’s expected departure and the possible departure of Chris Paul’s $30 million nonguaranteed contract, which will remove $73.2 million from the books, according to league sources.
The Warriors would be open to participating in a sign-and-trade to improve Thompson’s income potential, the source said.
The split comes as a shock to the entire league given the long history between the Warriors and Thompson, but this trend has been building for several seasons now. Thompson’s contract extension talks stalled, his role changed, the team missed the playoffs, the Warriors drafted potential replacements under him (Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski) and signed contract extensions (Jordan Poole), but he never received any love returned by management about his solid place in the franchise’s plans, league sources said.
That continued this summer, as the Warriors ostensibly expressed a desire to keep Thompson as a core player on the team, but made it clear they needed to get him in the right role at the right price and wait for the right time.
Desperate to upgrade the underachieving supporting talent around Stephen Curry, the team has been aggressively exploring the trade market in recent weeks, including an unlikely attempt to acquire free agent-bound Paul George, an endeavor the team now knows has failed.
Thompson felt the cold wind blowing from the only franchise he’d ever known and tried to give back in kind, limiting communications and planning his NBA future outside the Bay Area.
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