The Golden State Warriors are entering the 2018-19 NBA season as the heavy favorite to take home the Larry O’Brien Trophy. After winning back-to-back NBA championship titles, the Warriors didn’t only retain their core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, and Draymond Green, but also succeeded to address their weakness at the center position with the acquisition of DeMarcus Cousins in the recent free agency.
If all those five NBA All-Stars are 100 percent healthy when the real battle begins in the Western Conference Playoffs, the Warriors will be taking a smoother road to their third consecutive NBA championship title. However, when the 2018-19 NBA season is over, the Warriors will be needing to make a tough decision regarding their roster as three of their key players, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and DeMarcus Cousins, are set to become unrestricted free agents next July.
Klay Thompson has also expressed his desire to re-sign with the Warriors, but according to Zach Lowe of ESPN , the All-Star shooting guard has no plans to give Golden State a discount in the 2019 NBA free agency.
“What if Golden State signals it doesn’t want to pay full freight for one of Klay Thompson (a free agent this summer) and Draymond Green (a free agent in the summer of 2020, potentially up for a massive designated player extension after this season)? Thompson has no plans to take a discount, and the Warriors don’t expect him to, league sources say. Green already is dealing with small injuries; the league is curious about how his game will age. If Durant feels newly essential, he might be more inclined to stick around.”
Report: Klay Thompson will not take team discount in free agency https://t.co/4INdqYQFrv
— Warriors Wire (@TheWarriorsWire) October 16, 2018
Klay Thompson may not be on the level of Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant, but he’s definitely one of the major reasons behind the Warriors’ success in the last four years. Thompson is not only a superstar who can efficiently play off the ball, but his performance on the defensive end of the floor is also outstanding. In 73 games he played with the Warriors last season, the 28-year-old shooting guard averaged 20.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists on 48.8 percent shooting from the field and 44.0 percent from beyond the arc.
As of now, there is no doubt that Thompson deserves a huge payday in the 2019 NBA free agency. Though he already publicly stated his desire to remain in Golden State, rumors and speculations continue to swirl that Thompson may consider moving out of the shadow of Curry and Durant and play somewhere else. If the Warriors aren’t willing to give Thompson a max contract, other NBA teams will surely try their best to steal the All-Star shooting guard next summer.
