Klay Thompson received comfort from Steve Kerr following a poor shooting effort in a defeat to the Thunder.
Klay Thompson’s sluggish start to the season was exacerbated when the Warriors hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder and lost handily, despite Klay shooting 1-10 from the field. Head coach Steve Kerr defended his team’s start and credited the Thunder defense for restricting Thompson’s performance.
“All you have to do is be patient.” It’s difficult. They piled on the pressure and made life difficult for him. Dort was draped all over him, doing a fantastic defensive job. We weren’t able to generate any space for him with our lineups, and our offense basically kept himnews suffocated. He was attempting to get his own shot, and he took many difficult ones. I believe he’s just trying to get himself into trouble out of irritation.
Thompson had just five points in last night’s loss. With Jordan Poole traded away over the summer, the offensive pressure on Klay to perform in Stephen Curry’s absence has increased significantly. He failed to rise to the occasion in every way possible last night, with Jonathan Kuminga, who made his first start of the season, being the Warriors’ best player.
This season, Klay has averaged 13.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists, which is a far cry from the numbers we’ve come to expect from him. Last season, he averaged 21.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.4 assists, and the Warriors need that version of Klay to come up and keep them afloat in a tough Western Conference.
Klay Thompson and the Warriors were unable to reach an agreement on a contract extension this summer, with Thompson believing the Warriors were not providing him with what he deserved. No NBA team would want to max out Klay when he’s enjoying this kind of season, especially given his injury history. If the Warriors believe there is a real chance they will lose Klay in free agency next season, it may make more sense to deal his $43 million contract now for win-now players.
Stephen Curry is off to his best start since the 2015-16 season, averaging 0.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game. He can still lead the Warriors to a championship if the right pieces surround him. It might be time to recognize that Klay Thompson is no longer one of the right components, especially given his contract and performance on the court.
We’ve seen Klay rebound from sluggish starts to previous seasons, so we have until February to see if this is the new Klay Thompson or if we’re experiencing one of his slowest starts in his career. If this trend continues, the Warriors may have to make the difficult decision to part ways with one of the franchise’s three cornerstones.
The argument for keeping Klay on the roster is for continuity and morale, but does that account for what they’re losing on the court by keeping him? That’s difficult to say. My money is on Klay staying with the Warriors this season and signing a budget deal with Golden State worth $20 to $25 million if he continues to play like this. It’s unlikely that a cap-space team would offer him anything more, so Golden State should test whether there’s enough juice left in the player to keep the Warriors’ big three’s goal of retiring as one-club men alive.
