Myers admits Klay's injury ‘probably' impacted Oubre pursuit

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Just hours before the start of the 2020 NBA Draft, the Warriors learned that Klay Thompson likely sustained a torn right Achilles tendon.

An MRI the next morning confirmed the rupture, knocking the three-time NBA champion out for the entire 2020-21 season.

Word surfaced later that day that Golden State was in serious trade talks with the Oklahoma City Thunder to acquire Kelly Oubre via the franchise's $17.2 million traded player exception.

"We had to quickly realign and begin to have conversations about that specific exception -- what we were gonna do with it, whether we were gonna use it, who we could use it on," president of basketball operations Bob Myers said Tuesday on a conference call.

Did the devastating injury to Klay impact the organization's decision making?

"It probably made us more aggressive in our pursuit, knowing that we had a hole at the two-guard position," Myers admitted. "Free agency was about to start so we had to get in front of it.

"And only armed with the taxpayer mid-level [exception], that's not a great weapon to go into free agency with in a very competitive market."

These comments make it sound like if Klay was 100 percent healthy right now, Oubre would not be wearing a Warriors uniform this season.

RELATED: KOC identifies 'make-or-break' stat for Oubre with Warriors

It's going to be fascinating to see how everything shakes out, as Oubre is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Will he only be with the franchise one year, or will he become a long-term piece?

And remember, the Warriors owe the Thunder their 2021 first-round pick (top-20 protected), so the "what-if game" will continue for a while.

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