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After five All-Star appearances, three NBA championships and an All-Defensive Team, Klay Thompson wants every penny the Golden State Warriors can offer him this summer. If the Warriors don’t offer Thompson the full, $190 million max in free agency, he’ll reportedly shift his attention to his hometown of Los Angeles, CA, where there is money waiting for him.
According to Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times, Thompson will consider offers from both the Lakers and LA Clippers in free agency if the Warriors don’t show him the money when the free agency moratorium period starts on June 30:
Sources: If the Warriors don’t offer guard Klay Thompson a max $190 million deal on Sunday when free agency opens, he will listen to both LA teams, the Lakers and Clippers. Lakers back in the runnings because they now have max slot of $32 million after today’s trade.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) June 28, 2019
Few players fit better alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis than Thompson does.
Through 78 games with the Warriors last season, Thompson averaged 21.5 points per game with a 25.6 percent usage percentage. Thompson doesn’t need the ball in his hands to get numbers on the board, as evidenced by the time he tallied 43 points while only dribbling the ball four times.
It should go without saying, but Thompson is also a lights out 3-point shooter. I mean, you don’t get to be a “Splash Brother” if you’re knock making it rain from downtown. Last season, Thompson converted 40.2 percent of his 599 3-point attempts, which was the 10th-most 3-point attempts in the NBA.
He’s really, really good, which is why it’s silly to assume the Warriors would let him walk.
While it’s possible that the Warriors are reluctant to pay Thompson a full max deal after he tore his ACL in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, the team’s general manager, Bob Myers, has said that he will do everything he can to re-sign Thompson and Kevin Durant, who ruptured his Achilles tendon in Game 5. If Myers has no problem putting his money where his mouth is, Warriors fans should be able to sleep well at night.
If he doesn’t, James will make sure to treat his “Space Jam 2” co-star extra well when they’re on set.
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