Although Klay Thompson had a stellar career with the Golden State Warriors, there has been a lot of conjecture about his NBA future. Given the financial difficulties his current squad is facing, there’s a genuine chance he’ll leave to sign with a new team in free agency.
Following recent reports from Shams Charania naming the Los Angeles and Florida teams along with a few East Coast suitors, Marc Stein said that the Orlando Magic had surfaced as a possible free-agency candidate for Thompson.
“Orlando has been increasingly mentioned as a potential suitor for Klay Thompson in free agency,” Stein wrote. “The Magic’s available cap space is difficult to project this far out. That figure could rise as high as $45 million but depends on their future plans with free agents-to-be Markelle Fultzand Gary Harris as well as Jonathan Isaac (whose $17.4 million salary next season is non-guaranteed).”
Though he is no longer an All-Star at his best, Thompson is still a valuable player known for his 3-point shooting, so the question is still how much the Warriors are ready to commit to him. Across the league, his recent switch to a sixth-man role has been well received. Even so, it begs the question of his future role and contract, given the interest from teams like Orlando.
To make matters more complicated, the Warriors want to pay less in luxury taxes. Joe Lacob, the governor of the organization, recently expressed a desire to reduce the tax ramifications for the team, maybe through contract negotiations. This includes Thompson, who makes $42 million a year at the moment, and maybe Chris Paul.
Offering Thompson a $25 million yearly deal would severely restrict the Warriors’ financial flexibility for adding players to the squad, as eight guaranteed contracts worth roughly $137 million each for the upcoming season and a predicted $172 million luxury tax threshold mean that the team will have less money to work with when adding players to the roster.
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