Report: Warriors targeting February or March return for Klay Thompson

Two Warriors stars suffered major injuries in the NBA Finals.

Kevin Durant (ruptured Achilles) will reportedly miss all of next season.

What about Klay Thompson (torn ACL)?

Nick Friedell on ESPN:

The feeling internally is that he will be back some point February or March kind of as the target dates.

This timeline creates fascinating choices for Golden State in the likely event Thompson re-signs.

A team with Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala could be quite strong. Add Thompson for the playoffs, and the Warriors could contend for the 2020 title.

But they must first reach the postseason. The West could be quite deep. Golden State badly needs depth. However, Warriors will pay the repeater rate if they’re in the luxury tax next season.

One avenue for spending unlikely to be available: a disabled-player exception. Golden State could apply if Thompson re-signs, but that’s awarded only if an NBA-appointed doctor rules Thompson is “substantially more likely than not” to be out through June 15, 2020. Though the league is lenient in granting the exception, I doubt Thompson qualifies.

So, it’ll be on the Warriors to find other ways to build a roster with Thompson out so long but potentially back for the playoffs.