Klay Thompson didn’t want to be traded.
His father — Mychal Thompson, the former No. 1 pick and Showtime Laker who is now a Los Angeles radio host and Lakers radio broadcaster — said on his radio show several times this had not been easy for Klay because he didn’t want to be moved out of Golden State.
It doesn’t look like he is — the Warriors have refused to put him in a deal so far, and do not seem inclined to change their mind despite how much Minnesota has pushed. Thompson is happy with that and told Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports he looks forward to being back in Golden State next season.Thompson said he “got that vibe” from new Warriors coach Steve Kerr that he wouldn’t be traded.
“We got a good core. I feel we have one of the better backcourts in the league,” Thompson, referring to his backcourt mate Stephen Curry, told Yahoo Sports on Sunday. “I feel like we have a team that can do big things. Health is going to be huge, but I feel like we can make big strides this year.
“The fact that I haven’t been traded yet makes me feel comfortable. That speaks for itself.”
At this point Minnesota is trying to finalize a deal with Cleveland based around Andrew Wiggins. It will be closer to the start of training camp (or later) before that deal likely comes together.
For the Warriors, they love Thompson’s shooting but more importantly they like Thompson’s defense next to Stephen Curry, he takes that pressure off Curry. Those two are a good fit next to each other, no doubt. It’s also not a surprise that two of the better shooting guards the game has ever seen — Jerry West and Steve Kerr – favor keeping the good shooting guard in house.
This year we’ll see if new coach Kerr can add a little motion and life to a Warriors offense that should have been better than it was the last couple years. Thompson will need to be a key part of that — and if he has a good year his price on his next deal just goes up (unless the sides reach a deal before Halloween. And that extra cash kicks in next summer.