You don’t need to wait for documentaries or years of history to figure this one out. What happened Saturday night will be remembered as a turning point in an offseason during a pivotal part of Golden State Warriors history.
Preliminary analysis: So far, not so good! (But check back in a week or so for a final verdict.)
Klay Thompson is set to become a free agent, and barring a dramatic change of heart, the Warriors and Thompson are fully prepared for him to leave the Bay Area soon. NBA sources said this weekend that the preparations are in full swing and that cordial farewells were exchanged between Klay and Warriors organization executives.
And Paul George, who the Warriors had been hoping to acquire this offseason, opted out of the final year of his contract with the Los Angeles Clippers and became an unrestricted free agent, meaning the Warriors don’t have the cap space to sign him as a free agent, effectively closing off any realistic avenues for him to be acquired.
This comes after very serious negotiations took place between the Warriors, George and the Clippers leading up to George’s contract deadline Saturday afternoon, with the Warriors believing at various times they were on the verge of acquiring the 34-year-old small forward, team sources said.
The Warriors had agreed to give George a maximum four-year contract extension when he joined the team. They thought they had offered several trade proposals that the Clippers could and would accept. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green were 100% on board. George expressed a strong desire to join the Warriors. However, the Clippers did not agree to any trade proposals, and George became a free agent, leaving him out of the Warriors’ control.
All of this happened before free agency began Sunday, and by the current big-board tally, the Warriors are losing one of their three dynasty players and one of the most popular athletes in Bay Area history, they missed out on a great two-way wing they were pursuing, they’re dangling Andrew Wiggins and others in trade talks, and now they have to consider whether to guarantee Chris Paul’s $30 million contract for next season and whether they can change it with a trade.
No net gains, a fundamental loss, a lot of work to do, and all that’s at stake is the final stretch of Curry’s prime.
The Warriors don’t have the cap space to sign Paul George, pictured here with Luka Doncic, as a free agent. (Jerome Miron/USA Today)
Here’s a point-by-point look at what happened over the past few days and what it means for the Warriors to do next.
• A potential PG13 trade between the Warriors and Clippers was always going to be complicated, but Warriors brass thought they had the puzzle solved. From what I heard, some combination of Wiggins, CP3, Jonathan Kuminga and/or Moses Moody (but not all of them) plus a future first-round pick was in discussion with the Clippers.
Some versions would have limited the Clippers’ long-term financial commitment, others would have increased their future profits. The Warriors wouldn’t have included Wiggins and Kuminga in any offer, but we’ve also heard they never got that far in the first place. If it would have made the deal happen… who knows?
My understanding is that financial concerns weighed heavily on the Clippers’ side: if PG13 left as a free agent, the Clippers would get nothing, but they would get out of the second apron and have more roster flexibility.
• If the Warriors had included Kuminga in the George trade, it would have been a risk in itself: The Warriors would have given up their most valuable young player in exchange for an older, injury-plagued roster and would have owed more than $260 million over the next five years, essentially putting the Warriors under the luxury tax.
But PG13 would have been an immediate first baseman behind Curry, better than anyone the Warriors have had in that role for years, and would have taken on most of the toughest perimeter defensive duties. Who fills that position for the Warriors? Maybe Kuminga will take some of it. Maybe Moody. Maybe Brandin Podziemski. It’s all in the works. The Boston Celtics proved again that a playoff series can be won by a tough, two-way wing, but the Warriors are still pretty lacking in that department. That’s why they were so desperate to get George.
• There will be time to reflect later on Thompson’s incredible legacy with the Warriors, and he deserves every bit of it. Game 6 in Oklahoma City alone will merit a hundred or so recollections. His return to shoot free throws and limp on defense after tearing his ACL in the 2019 finals will surely garner a thousand more tributes.
But in retrospect, many of his actions and emotions in the final months of last season were probably signals that he was preparing to take the next step, from his frequent bad moods in press conferences to his struggle to adjust to a subdued sense of importance on the court to that moment on the final night after the final regular-season game at Chase Center, when he wandered around the locker room and invited his teammates to join him on a boat.
CP3 and Moody accepted his offer, partly because it was obviously an honor to be on that boat with Thompson, but I also think it was because they knew it was important to him that they did that night.
• Thompson didn’t like his experience last season, and he said so many times. He didn’t like being benched for several games behind Podziemski. He didn’t like the questions he was asked about his future. He didn’t like the national attention he received for his occasional struggles, including going 0-for-10 from the field in a play-in loss to the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night. Really He didn’t like that the Warriors prioritized figuring out how to bolster the roster over bringing him back in the offseason.
I don’t think Thompson likes being compared to the man he was before his two serious leg injuries, when he could guard anyone and make NBA shooting history in any game. He wants a fresh start, and he’s going to get a fresh start, and he’s coming to Chase Center with a new team and he wants to beat the Warriors. Maybe not bitter, maybe a little bitter, but it’ll be fun to watch.
• Thompson wouldn’t have been a starter if he’d stayed with the Warriors this season. Poziemski or Moody or someone else would have been the starter. I don’t know if Thompson would have wanted to go through that again, and the Warriors wouldn’t have liked it, either. It seems like a brutal end to an incredible tenure, but it was inevitable.
The Warriors won’t be better without Thompson. They’ll miss his shot, his personality, his sarcastic humor, everything. There will be a statue of him outside the arena. He’ll always be warmly welcomed wherever there are Warriors fans. Yes, the Warriors will miss him. But they’ll get something in a sign-and-trade after he leaves, with Thompson’s permission, and it won’t make their situation any worse. They’ll be younger and probably more athletic.
And over the next week or so we’ll see what else is added.
• The Warriors could use the CP3 contract as a sort of trade exception, meaning they could negotiate with Paul to set the guarantee at an amount both sides can agree on, and then use it to balance the trade if a good trade comes along.
If the Warriors can’t find a trade, they could release CP3, avoid the apron and luxury tax, and avoid the cap line (depending on how much money they get back in a sign-and-trade for Thompson), and then consider what else they could get for Wiggins. As it stands, they have $5.2 million in the mid-taxpayer level exception, and could potentially use the $12.9 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception if they were to move Wiggins and receive much less in return.
• Finally, here’s another quote from Thompson during his season-ending press conference. He was asked for his reaction to Curry, Draymond and Steve Kerr all saying how much they wanted him back. Even though Thompson said it back in April, it feels especially fitting now.
“It means a lot,” Thompson said. “We’ve been through the best of times and the worst of times. Losing championships, winning championships, missing the playoffs, we’ve been through it all together. So it means a lot. I’m thankful for the time I got to spend with those guys. It was truly historic.”
Yes, it was. It’s past tense now.
(Top photo of Klay Thompson: Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
