Would we have seen the end of an era on Tuesday night in the NBA Play-In Tournament? After defeating the Golden State Warriors 118-94, the Sacramento Kings will need to make some crucial choices in the offseason.
The biggest is when Klay Thompson is allowed to sign free agency. In order to bring him back into the fold, will the Warriors offer him a long-term contract similar to what they did with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green? Will they allow him to join with another team or will they let him go free?
Whatever course Golden State decides to take, a lot will influence the decision. Despite Thompson’s longstanding importance to the squad, it appears that the Warriors need to make some adjustments.
His future was one of the main topics of conversation on Tuesday after the game. It is evident that head coach Steve Kerr wants to see Thompson return to Golden State, and Green felt the same way.
Curry is in agreement. When discussing the possibility of the Big 3 of the Warriors splitting up, he was candid since he couldn’t even picture it happening.
After the game, which marked the official end of the Warriors’ 2023–24 NBA season, emotions ran high. It’s clear that Curry, Green, and Thompson don’t want to be remembered for their final team uniform.
Because of the excellent job the Kings did slowing him down, Curry scored a team-high 22 points. Thompson’s 10 misses without a basket are a record for the Warriors, setting an unsightly record during a Play-In or NBA Playoff game.
Curry nevertheless took the time to praise Thompson for the work he performed this season. He endured a lot of hardships as his position shifted and he struggled on the court, which at times during the season caused Kerr to bench him in the fourth quarter.
“It’s about commending him on a hell of a year,” Curry said of Thompson. “Everyone is going to talk about one game, and I know he wanted to do better. We go through so much over 82 games, and the fact that he was able to turn his season around with a new role and adjusting … just really having fun playing basketball and being at peace out there with it all, I’m more worried about that.”
The Warriors will undoubtedly have a busy few weeks ahead of them. They couldn’t even make it into the postseason field, so as things are right now, they aren’t even close to challenging for an NBA championship. It will be necessary to make some adjustments, or Curry might wind up playing the lottery in his latter years.
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