It’s far from certain whether Klay Thompson will stay with the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors front office has not yet extended a contract offer to him, and he will be eligible for unrestricted free agency in the summer.
Although Thompson has made it clear that he wants to stay in the Bay Area, he might be persuaded to leave if a sizable offer that included a starting position were to present itself.
NBA insider Shams Charania, who made an appearance on FanDuel TV’s “Run it Back” on Monday, claims that Thompson and the Orlando Magic are interested in collaborating in the offseason.
“The Magic can open up an excess of $60M in cap space this off-season … One name to keep an eye on, Klay Thompson, I’m told there is mutual interest between the Magic and Klay Thompson,” Charania said. “Thompson, along with several other vets around the league, are looking at the Magic as a situation where if you plug in a guy like Klay Thompson, plug in another veteran … This team can make a real jump.”
Thompson made $43.2 million this season; his next contract will probably be much less. Golden State has stated that it wants to skip this summer’s luxury tax.
“Our Plan 1, or 1A, is actually we’d like to be out of the tax, and we think that we have a way to do that,” Warriors majority owner Joe Lacob told The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami. “That kind of is the plan, not just under the second apron. I’ll tell you why that’s important, because the truth is that we need to be out of the tax two years out of the next four, below the tax line, in order to get this repeater thing off our books. We don’t want to be a repeater. It’s just so prohibitive, not to say we wouldn’t do it if we had to, but you’ve gotta look at what the downside is to doing that.”
Because of this, the Magic may be able to provide a more generous contract in terms of pay and playing time.
To help elevate its youthful core to new heights, Orlando requires an experienced leader. What Orlando is constructing in its locker room would be greatly benefited by Thompson’s experience and championship acumen.
It will be interesting to see if Thompson is genuinely willing to depart the Warriors in the summer. Still, it appears that if he chooses to take a chance, a possible new house in Orlando is waiting for him.
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