Klay Thompson has made it clear at every turn: If the Warriors offer him a max contract, he’ll re-sign. If they don’t, he’ll consider leaving for the Clippers, Lakers or whichever other team he could use for leverage.
Golden State got the message.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
Sources: Golden State is planning to offer All-Star Klay Thompson a 5-year, $190M maximum contract when free agency opens Sunday at 6 PM ET --- which is expected to accelerate process of GM Bob Myers and Thompson’s agent, Greg Lawrence, quickly reaching formal agreement.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 28, 2019
There’s no guarantee Thompson, who’s 29 and has a torn ACL, will provide positive value throughout this contract. But Golden State absolutely had to offer him it.
He’s a star on a capped-out team trying to contend. The Warriors have no way to adequately replace him. The stakes are enormous, with championships potentially on the line.
And Thompson might be worth all that money. His superb outside shooting should age reasonably well. His defense could slip and still remain effective.
This is a no-brainer offer, and after all his signaling, Thompson will almost assuredly accept it as soon as he can.
