Klay Thompson was glued to the bench Tuesday night, watching the final minutes six minutes of the Warriors’ close loss to the Suns so that rookie Brandin Podziemski could get his minutes (or, if you prefer, 38-year-old Chris Paul got them). Steve Kerr’s reasoning for benching the four-time NBA Champion? “I just felt like tonight I had to play the guys who were playing the best.” He wasn’t wrong, and Thompson agreed with his first-ever crunch-time benching.
“I’ve been playing like crap,” Thompson admitted.
Thompson is in a contract year and his play is not helping his cause. He is averaging 15.4 points a game but shooting a pedestrian 34.3% from 3, his 53.7 true shooting percentage is well below league average, and he’s not the same defender he was before his unfortunate run of major injuries. The Warriors and Thompson talked contract extension over the summer and before the season but talks stalled out.
All of which begs the question, what will Thompson’s next contract look like? Shams Charania of The Athletic added this tidbit in The Bounce newsletter:
“Contract negotiations between Thompson and the Warriors stalled over salary and length of an extension being discussed. I’m told the Warriors were offering Thompson a two-year deal in the range of $48 million before the season.”
Thompson is making $43.2 million this season and it was clear a pay cut was coming, the only question was how steep. Thompson may have considered $24 million a season too low and bet on himself this season to prove he was worth more. So far, that strategy has not paid off. Thompson likely also wanted more years and security, but giving him two more years lined him up with the contracts of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins (Green and Wiggins each have one player-option year beyond that).
Thompson’s play this season is not generating leverage for him — other teams are not watching the 33-year-old and thinking they want to come in over the top and poach him. He has more value to the Warriors than any other organization, because of the history, but $24 million a year might be the top end the way he is playing right now.
The Warriors’ front office has seen the pivot from this Curry/Green/Thompson era coming, but the team’s play this season — outside of Curry, who has seemed timeless — may hasten its arrival. Do the Warriors want to run with this lineup for a couple of more years? Some hard decisions are coming.
Klay Thompson may be the test case. What he makes next season — and with what team — will show us what Mike Dunleavy and the Warriors front office is thinking.
