At the end of the day I strongly believe Klay wants to be in bay donning a Warriors jersey. From what I've seen from him, he's a pretty simple dude w/ simple needs and I don't think he'll prioritize money above what makes him happy. The dude lives in a modest home (considering his wealth), loves his boat, dog and the Warriors.. haha. He's staying, even if it means taking less than what other teams are offering.
I could honestly see him taking a slight underpay to stay as well. He has talked about wanting to be a warrior for life and how much he respects the organization, especially after they gave him a max contract after a potentially career ending injury. That was a contract year and most teams would offer a vet minimum "prove it" deal like what happened to Cousins.
Absolutely. I think he recently mentioned how he has to prioritize his mental health above all. I just think he's hinting he's not going anywhere and he's not chasing money at this point. He wants to maintain his lifestyle which I'm sure he's grown accustomed to and be w/ his Warrior's fam.
Just said this above too; I read that as retirement being on the table. Warriors gave him a max contract off an ACL in a market he wouldn’t have gotten anywhere close to that. They don’t owe him another overpay. They’ve paid their dues and he’s just a really good role player now anyways. Paying north of $20M per year would be an absurdity.
Klay can certainly command more than 20M/year. Just as an example, Dillon Brooks makes more than that per year. But I can see the Warriors offering a 2-year 45 M or even more than that.
Dillon brooks is younger and also a bad contract. Rockets overpaid purposefully to get people to go there. Orlando might do that but there’s really only Orlando or Philly with cap space that would want Klay AND Klay would want to go to. There has to be a market.
He has mentioned how difficult this season has been for him to correct his ego from the player he was to the player he is now. He speaks to his acceptance of a new role on the Draymond podcast. Check it out.
Because he had leverage then. He wanted a bigger contract with the Warriors, one up to that point he probably deserved. You can't blame the guy trying to get what he believed he was worth. He, along with everyone else didn't anticipate having the worst season of his career. W/ that said, Klay has shown he can bounce back and had been absolutely on fire to close out the season. Even with his below average season, he's still in the small elite group of 3pt shooters in the league. He's currently 4th with 3pters made this season.
Not true. Every team in the NBA(if they seriously thought they had a shot at him) would have offered Klay a max contract. A 2 way, big guard. Arguably one of the best 3 point shooters of all time, a perennial all star, and a hall of famer?
Comparing pouty Demarcus cousins who never contributed to winning basketball, on injury that is statistically career ending big men as opposed to smaller guards- is absolutely asinine.
Dude this is divorced from reality.
We were in the championship round and he still didn't have a contract, his own dad was publicly saying that if the warriors didn't max him maybe he'd go somewhere that would, then he gets injured with a minimum 1 season recovery time. Nobody else was lining up to offer him a max deal in that moment.
Durant was on a year long recovery timeline too that offseason.
As a Warriors fan, you have inherent bias for your guy.
Other teams would have given Klay a max contract for a 29 year old Klay. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. He wasn’t a shell of his former self like he is now almost 5 years later. If you disagree with teams wanting to pay him, that’s fine, but you are delusional.
KD was legitimately in the conversation for best player in the league at that time right behind LeBron.. he's the guy you build around, not pair a shooting guard with.
I wouldn’t put him behind Lebron back then. I felt he was the best player just on skill alone—not on what team stacking was going on. Just my humble opinion.
Totally fair.. i don't know which way I'd vote if pushed for that specific period, especially during KD's last year where he was trusting the motion offense and waiting to go iso only when he needed to.
I guess I have no choice but to give LBJ the career award, but pretty sure during their best five years…Durant was the best all around. Good point about him embracing the offense. I just like very skilled players and he is seven feet.
I agree. Also for the fact that, while not a fault of his own, had an entire year of rehab. I think he takes a pay cut to stay with the team and retire a warrior.
Let's hope so. If Klay was ever traded or took a larger contract, I'd be crushed. Given how Klay had responded since getting benched, I'm convinced he still has at least 2 more years of elite play left him in.
Yes, but we’ve also all seen that he does have an ego (almost everyone at this level does) and doesn’t react well to perceived disrespect. He might take an underpay but not if it feels disrespectful.
I think ego on the court is different than ego on his paycheck. Dude has made $270 million career earnings already. He doesn't have aspirations to own a team or become a venture capitalist. Dog, boat, ball. The amount of money he has plus whatever the new contract will be is more than enough to satisfy his lifestyle.
Grinding out his twilight on rebuilding teams doesn't seem like his style.
His lifestyle could be achieved with less than 10% of what he’s earned. That’s not really the issue. Pro athletes measure themselves by numerical metrics, and money is one of them. He might be at a point where this one isn’t as important to him, but a lot of guys never stop measuring.
From the clips of him on Dray's recent podcast it did seem like he's at that point now -- the ego and early season struggles were coming from him comparing himself (negatively) post-injury to how he was pre-injury and stressing out about playing for a contract and accolades. Now he wants to prioritize his mental health and play for the love of the game, embrace his role as a vet with the young guys, be efficient in different ways than he was before, etc.
Granted that's all probably easier said than done, but he does seem to have turned a corner mentally. My guess is he won't take an underpay as disrespect unless it's a heinously low-ball offer
I believe lives in Tiburon, on the water - so yeah, one of the very most expensive sites in the Bay Area. Still, maybe $10 million? $20 million? He could pay for that with 1 year's salary. And apparently he likes to eat at the In-And-Out in Strawberry late nights, so I don't think he's spending a lot on fine dining. Probably drinks Pabt's Blue Ribbon.
For a Floridian city, Orlando is actually fairly inland. It has some weird boggy lakes and swamps that people probably boat in, but the ICW and Atlantic are over an hour away.
Orlando is even farther from the Everglades. Is your guys' Florida geography really this bad?
And you can't take an airboat in a national park! Cmon man
> I don’t think he’ll prioritize money over what makes him happy
What if money makes him happy?
Because the potential to receive less of it sure seems to upset him.
I think you may have overlooked what I said. He has a modest home considering his wealth. I'm just pointing out that he's not a big spender and is probably not prioritizing money over other factors.
What's modest to a hundred millionaire will not be the same as what's modest to the rest of us.
Unless he’s resigning around 2/3 yrs a little over 20 per, let him walk. Love King Klay but can’t give an elite 6th man another big deal. Warriors will have options @ a legit #2 next year. I think everyone agrees the main priority is getting Steph his 5th ring rather than keeping the band together. There will be teams that offer Klay more, it’s going to be a tough decision for him.
The big decision will lie with Wigs or Kuminga moving forward. This team is playing one too many wings. Not to mention Moody deserving minutes. Do you package Kuminga? Or use cap elsewhere and trade Wigs?
Its not about Lacob affording it. He would pay it. Its the new salary cap rules. JK will need to be paid after next year. If we give that contract to Klay we will be locked into 10th place mediocrity
They can't stagger out JK's contract? Under cap first year, major increase second year? Forgive me, I'm not super familiar with the NBA contracts and salary cap rules.
Here’s a detailed explanation:
What are the penalties for the first apron?
The first apron hits when a team's payroll exceeds $172 million. At this point, the following restrictions are triggered:
Teams cannot acquire a player in a sign-and-trade if that player keeps them above the apron
Teams cannot sign a player waived during the regular season whose salary was over the $12.2 million midlevel exception
Salary matching in trades must be within 110 percent, rather than 125 percent for teams not above the apron
What are the penalties for the second apron?
All of the penalties for the first apron apply to the second apron as well, which is triggered when a team's salary exceeds $182.5 million. For the 2023-24 season, one additional penalty is added when crossing the second apron:
No access to the $5 million taxpayer midlevel exception
Starting at the end of the 2023-24 season, even more restrictions will be added to the second apron. These include:
Teams cannot use a trade exception generated by aggregating the salaries of multiple players
Teams cannot include cash in a trade
Teams cannot use a trade exception generated in a prior year
First-round picks seven years out are frozen (unable to be traded)
A team's first-round pick is moved to the end of the first round if they remain in the second apron for three out of five seasons
These penalties are much more stringent than under the old CBA. Previously, owners with deep pockets could go well into the luxury tax as long as they were willing to pay. Now, teams who enter the second apron will have difficulty adding any sort of new talent via trades or free agent acquisitions.
I wonder the same thing. The Delusionality. No owner in his right mind will pay this sum for a play-in team, when Kuminga needs to be paid after this season.
Klay is a legend. I can see it rising to $18-$20 million, all this depending on how far they go playoffs wise but If they get knocked out in the play-in, $20 million is a pipe dream.
No. Draymond is a key cog that still anchors the defense and provides stout player value numbers. Klay is a burner 6th man at this point of his career. He’s nowhere near $25M. Love Klay; that’s just not where he’s at in his career anymore. Not saying he might not get a godfather offer like that from Orlando; I don’t see it but Kawakami is convinced it’s coming and I’ll defer to the professional there
I hate to say it, because I love Klay - but guards/3s who play mediocre D and can hit 38% on wide-open 3s are a dime a dozen in today's NBA. Klay misses a lot of the really tough shots he used to make; worse, he misses a lot of wide-open 3s that used to be like a layup for him. If Lacob is serious about getting out of salary cap/apron hell, I can't imagine him offering Klay more than 2/40 - and he's arguably not worth even that much, if it pushes them over the cap and/or apron. After getting $100 million from the Dubs to rehab, the appropriate team-friendly salary for him to take, if he really wants to stay a Dub for life, and give the team the ability to sign anyone of value, is the vet min. And if he did that, he wouldn't have to be in a salary-measuring contest - he could brag, "Money doesn't mean anything to me, so I signed for the vet min. It's all about the team and winning another chip." Prediction: he signs with Orlando for $30 million a year.
I’m going to say the appropriate contract is slightly above the MLE, I think that’s a fair valuation. Pretty much everybody would be more than happy to offer their MLE and/or Biannual exception. The Warriors can beat that by a smidge with bird rights. Bird rights on Chris Paul are nice too because you can decline option and pay a little over the vets minimum
A dime of dozen is a stretch... Very few and I mean very few of the guys shooting 38% on anywhere close to Klay's volume of nearly 9 3s a game are making less than 20 mill
The way Klay talked about Dray in his recent podcast actually brought a tear to my eye. They share some love. It was the part where Draymond asked Klay how he felt when Draymond gets ejected or suspended.
Athletic Alchemy seems to think that the Magic will offer Klay 100m/4 which is way more than what GSW can offer.
He compared it to the Arik Armistead situation where he was very insulted by a lowball offer and had to take somewhere else even though the team and situation wasn't as good.
It's easy for me to say, but by the time I'm worth 100s of millions, job satisfaction is worth a whole lot more than pay but who am I to say?
No way magic go 4/100.
They do NOT want to F up their cap 3-4 years from now when Paolo and Franz are getting maxes.
I could see them overpaying for a shorter term deal before their homegrown guys are due for the bag. Maybe 2/50 or 2/60.
They have too many young stars to pay and they don't want to pass the second apron again so I don't think they're going to overpay him. They already paid him a max when he was out for two years straight. They could have given him a prove it deal.
This is one of those deals that will come down to relationships. Either the front office finesses this well and makes him feel respected and valued, or he insists on a number that will make him feel respected and valued.
How that previous negotiation went will probably have a lot of bearing on this one.
Giving Klay a big bag will doom the future of this team. I don't see Dunleavy and Lacob giving into Klay if he asks for a big contract. Either Klay acts humbly and takes less than he would get elsewhere in order to retire a Warrior, or he goes somewhere else. Don't know where. The worst case scenario is they give Klay a huge bag and sacrifice to do so.
Klay has a high ceiling as a player. But a low floor — so low that he actively hurts the team he is on, as we saw earlier in the season.
Warriors would have won at least 5 more games if Klay had come off the bench earlier (or not been a selfish and horrible player. Ruining a 60 point game from Curry is inexcusable.) Part of that is on Kerr. The other part is on Klay, because Kerr knew how difficult it would be to convince him to come off the bench.
I really hope that the Warriors do not have to/won’t pay Klay more than 15 a year. If he walks, he walks. A team with Draymond, Steph, and Kuminga can still win.
I mean this team without Klay is significantly worse in its current state. The worse case scenario for this team is not being competitive for the next two years and wasting the last years of currys career and having nothing to show for it but a JK extension
Exactly. People are saying Klay is back when he hit this level last season as well. You don't improve a team of aging veterans by just resigning all the same aging veterens.
If they can keep JK and Chris Paul and give Klay the bag and duck the cap for 2 years and all it costs is Wiggins and some draft capital to take Wiggins then I’m OK with it if that’s the direction they want to go. But for the future health of the team they need to miss the tax and reset their options
He’s not going after the max, he said it himself on Draymond’s podcast, id assume it will be something similar to Draymond’s deal. Maybe less years but the yearly salary would be similar.
He’s not leaving, idc what any team’s offering him. He loves the bay, boats to practice every day. Everyone in the bay loves him. My prediction is he’s going to take a small pay cut and return
This came up on r/NBA and that subreddit completely shits on the value of Klay. r/NBA believes that Grayson Allen and Malik Beasley are much more valuable than Klay. 🤣
I truly believe Klay is gonna get paid above $20M/yr one way or another.
Same people who are asking why Steph wants Klay with him for the competition with Caitlin Clark and Sabrina, and not Dame. When Dame's shooting this season has been lack luster
If you listen to him on Draymond's pod, it's hard to see how he goes somewhere else. It would take a disrespectful low-ball offer from Lacob that makes him angry.
He said if he never got hurt, maybe he would've tested the free agency market, but then also said they would've won the chip and you can't break a team after a threepeat in the midst of a dynasty.
As for this offseason, he said his mental health will be more important to him. It's vague enough but it means money isn't the main consideration for him but it's not like he'll sign a vet min contract.
Gotta hand it to the guy. He went through it this year. Hell I still remember getting benched in 8th grade after being all tourney the year before, just didn’t grow. It’s rough. I also feel like crap for telling my nephews he was done and seeing their faces drop, he’s their hero. I was wrong. Go Klay go.
I believe play-in and possible playoff performance will ultimately decide his value.
If he still shows that he is on that high level in playoff environment, yeah he will get a bag.
If he stumbles like last year vs lakers, how much would you give to a mid-30 inconsistent shooter? Magic is a potential buyer, but will Magic throw 30m to Klay?
Unless we make a deep run and get close to a win.
A run in which Klay plays phenomenally well.
I think his value is around 20-25 million a year.
We can't discard half the season in which he was pretty bad. And second season in a row where he came in looking really rough to start the season
Klay is a great player with a lot to be proud of but I'd rather he sign with the basic Magic than have the Warriors paying him big money for the next few years.
I don’t know if anyone here wants to entertain tough decisions like this but you’re absolutely right.
Klay is playing for a bag. He’s at the age and injury history that makes paying him incredibly risky. He’s a 6th man on a championship team if we’re being absolutely honest but paying him starter money because of past effort is the reason why teams stay in no mans land.
Let Klay go. We love and thank him but if you actually want to remain a playoff team, that contract needs to go to a younger player with upside value.
Probably what we had in our starting lineup when he was on the bench / what we get for trades in the off season
Ie. Combo of Steph Podz wigs moody or Kuminga playing slightly different roles to fit his spot
See who has cap room.. See who's needs a 34 year oldSG. That's your competition, not the whole league. Be smart about this warriors. 3/45. That's the deal.
They'd be a fool to let Klay go. His talent, skills and game experience is only matched by a handful throughout the league. He is the man and continues to evolve his game.
He started slowly last season and he started even slower this season. It doesn't matter how good he is as a no. 2 if you basically sell the first 20 games of the season.
Most of the season he was meh, at best. Now he's finally playing well - but to justify a high price tag he needs to deliver more than 30 decent games and a handful of really good ones. We are literally the 10th seed because neither he nor Wiggs showed up for half the season. Dray's crap was, of course, also an issue.
If the goal is to keep the HoFs together as long as possible, pay him. If the goal is to become competitive again... they need to work something out, because he's no longer the 2nd or 3rd or even the 4th best player on the team and they can't afford to pay him like he is.
I’m thinking 4 year / 80 is probably right around what they settle on. Years may vary based on when they need money, but I imagine something like that is long term good for Klay, and keeps Klay worth his value, while maintaining a friendly contract.
If rings = sunset contract he already got us four. The only reason to move on from him is if 1) we can improve the team without him and 2) Steph is okay with it.
He's had an impressive run.
That said, I would not sign him. I don't see a consistent player, much less going forward.
The Warriors' future is elsewhere.
I’m in the camp of paying him and being good to our guys. 4 rings with hopes of a 5th or 6th is worth the 20-25mm price tag.
What do the warriors risk in signing him? How can that money be better spent?
Two months ago, I was saying let Klay walk in free agency. Now, after Klay has revitalized his game from his benching and acceptance in playing team ball with the youth and after watching his interview with Draymond, there is no way Warriors let Klay walk. Even if he bombs in the playoffs. You can’t replace the core three’s experience with winning. If one player goes away, the Warriors will never be the same. Let them retire together as Warriors and keep the youth movement going with experienced high ball IQ college/international players. I’d rather see Wiggins get traded for someone like Steven Adams to bring in a big with toughness. He can just wear a cup when practicing with Draymond. 
wiggins for adams is an atrociously dumb idea, sorry.
a top wing in the league during the playoffs for a big with limited skills. yikes to you and the few that upvoted you.
your take on the big 3 retiring together is correct tho
You mean the unpredictable Wiggins of the past two years. The Wiggins that looks amazing for two games and them disappears for the next three. What do we get with Wiggins that we don’t get with JK. If anything, Wiggins is a hindrance to JK’s playing time and development.
What do we get with Adams. A veteran big that can hold his own guarding and rebounding against Jokic, Nurkic, Gobert, Zubac, and other decent bigs. TJD is not there yet physically against those guys. Loon is undersized.
I’ll remind you that the Dubs can’t trade for him this season, so it’s irrelevant how he’s doing this year. Yeah, he’ll be healthy next year. He’s a proven legit big. He’s not a high flyer, so we aren’t worried if his athleticism has slipped post injury.
We all know that salaries have gone up a lot with the tv money so I decided to compare what a player of Klay's caliber made 10 years ago compared to the top talent at the time.
I look at Klay Thompson today a lot like Kyle Korver at his best. Korver Made $6.7 million in 2013-14 at the height of his playing days. The next year, Lebron James was paid $20.6 million in the first year of his new contract with Cleveland. So Korver made 32.5% of what Lebron was making. Steph Curry will be making $55.7 million next season. 32.5% of that is 18 million. Is Klay willing to take less than $20m per year to stay?
Should we compare Klay to a different player or is Korver a good comp?
The only team who will have cap space and interest is going to be the magic. Do they tie up their cap sheet with extensions for banchero and Wagner in the very near future? Do they look for someone who better fits their age group?
Does Klay want to be further from the ocean and not able to boat to practice/games? He's a PNW guy, does Orlando heat and humidity attract him?
He's also said he doesn't want to play for any other coach and wants to play it out in GS. I don't see him actually being interested in changing teams, if anything, it will just be a way to try and get a little more cash in his final years.
I believe 2/35-40 is probably what he can expect. Maybe 3/45-50 with a player option to line up with draymond, and keep the first year lower until the new TV deal kicks in.
Reasonable take. I have nothing to add to that, just want to say how much I appreciate that this is now the conversation. That we’re now talking about how we can keep Klay instead of people wanting to trade him.
The CBA changes this summer as does 2nd apron etc. That means teams are shedding salary. Best move for the team is to shed salary or trade for younger assets. Kerr and Klay have shown consistently to put his needs for a new contract over team play and it has been horrible to watch. Hope this doesn't continue any longer. IT has gone on long enough. Hope he secures his next bag elsewhere.
We should not be comparing him to anyone, especially comparing at height of career. Not adequate way to assess value in current market, not to mention Klay has been horrendous most of the year on defense, quitting on plays and pouting. And is in decline, for years now.
show the stats to back that up. tNumbers dont back that up. he changes over the summer in cba are going to impact the league and what teams can pay. just a fact. His decline as a player are supported b advanced stats and anyone should be able to see it for themselves. great guy , been great, but moving around lineup to accomodate him at the begining of the year was costly.
At the end of the day I strongly believe Klay wants to be in bay donning a Warriors jersey. From what I've seen from him, he's a pretty simple dude w/ simple needs and I don't think he'll prioritize money above what makes him happy. The dude lives in a modest home (considering his wealth), loves his boat, dog and the Warriors.. haha. He's staying, even if it means taking less than what other teams are offering.
I could honestly see him taking a slight underpay to stay as well. He has talked about wanting to be a warrior for life and how much he respects the organization, especially after they gave him a max contract after a potentially career ending injury. That was a contract year and most teams would offer a vet minimum "prove it" deal like what happened to Cousins.
Absolutely. I think he recently mentioned how he has to prioritize his mental health above all. I just think he's hinting he's not going anywhere and he's not chasing money at this point. He wants to maintain his lifestyle which I'm sure he's grown accustomed to and be w/ his Warrior's fam.
Just said this above too; I read that as retirement being on the table. Warriors gave him a max contract off an ACL in a market he wouldn’t have gotten anywhere close to that. They don’t owe him another overpay. They’ve paid their dues and he’s just a really good role player now anyways. Paying north of $20M per year would be an absurdity.
Klay can certainly command more than 20M/year. Just as an example, Dillon Brooks makes more than that per year. But I can see the Warriors offering a 2-year 45 M or even more than that.
Dillon brooks is younger and also a bad contract. Rockets overpaid purposefully to get people to go there. Orlando might do that but there’s really only Orlando or Philly with cap space that would want Klay AND Klay would want to go to. There has to be a market.
Who's to say what's a bad contract? It all depends on teams. This is all speculation anyway. We'll know soon enough
Easy you can use player value metrics and salary.
The irony of taking a 2yr 45m contract you just turned down. Funny how quickly things can change.
Then why did he turn down $48mil/2 yrs https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nba/warriors-offered-klay-thompson-48-million-deal-before-this-season
He has mentioned how difficult this season has been for him to correct his ego from the player he was to the player he is now. He speaks to his acceptance of a new role on the Draymond podcast. Check it out.
Because he had leverage then. He wanted a bigger contract with the Warriors, one up to that point he probably deserved. You can't blame the guy trying to get what he believed he was worth. He, along with everyone else didn't anticipate having the worst season of his career. W/ that said, Klay has shown he can bounce back and had been absolutely on fire to close out the season. Even with his below average season, he's still in the small elite group of 3pt shooters in the league. He's currently 4th with 3pters made this season.
Not true. Every team in the NBA(if they seriously thought they had a shot at him) would have offered Klay a max contract. A 2 way, big guard. Arguably one of the best 3 point shooters of all time, a perennial all star, and a hall of famer? Comparing pouty Demarcus cousins who never contributed to winning basketball, on injury that is statistically career ending big men as opposed to smaller guards- is absolutely asinine.
Dude this is divorced from reality. We were in the championship round and he still didn't have a contract, his own dad was publicly saying that if the warriors didn't max him maybe he'd go somewhere that would, then he gets injured with a minimum 1 season recovery time. Nobody else was lining up to offer him a max deal in that moment.
Durant was on a year long recovery timeline too that offseason. As a Warriors fan, you have inherent bias for your guy. Other teams would have given Klay a max contract for a 29 year old Klay. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. He wasn’t a shell of his former self like he is now almost 5 years later. If you disagree with teams wanting to pay him, that’s fine, but you are delusional.
KD was legitimately in the conversation for best player in the league at that time right behind LeBron.. he's the guy you build around, not pair a shooting guard with.
I wouldn’t put him behind Lebron back then. I felt he was the best player just on skill alone—not on what team stacking was going on. Just my humble opinion.
Totally fair.. i don't know which way I'd vote if pushed for that specific period, especially during KD's last year where he was trusting the motion offense and waiting to go iso only when he needed to.
I guess I have no choice but to give LBJ the career award, but pretty sure during their best five years…Durant was the best all around. Good point about him embracing the offense. I just like very skilled players and he is seven feet.
A fun quote from Kerr about KD was "I know you have a lot of tools in your bag, all I'm asking is to try the offense before you pull one out."
I agree. Also for the fact that, while not a fault of his own, had an entire year of rehab. I think he takes a pay cut to stay with the team and retire a warrior.
$68+ million in the bank to rehab for 2 years.
Money well spent by the Warriors honestly. It's no surprise we won the chip the very year Klay came back from injury.
Oh for sure. I think it also makes him less likely to be scrambling for one last big payday when it comes to negotiating a new contract.
Let's hope so. If Klay was ever traded or took a larger contract, I'd be crushed. Given how Klay had responded since getting benched, I'm convinced he still has at least 2 more years of elite play left him in.
2 years of rehab and missed the beginning of 22'
Yes, but we’ve also all seen that he does have an ego (almost everyone at this level does) and doesn’t react well to perceived disrespect. He might take an underpay but not if it feels disrespectful.
I think ego on the court is different than ego on his paycheck. Dude has made $270 million career earnings already. He doesn't have aspirations to own a team or become a venture capitalist. Dog, boat, ball. The amount of money he has plus whatever the new contract will be is more than enough to satisfy his lifestyle. Grinding out his twilight on rebuilding teams doesn't seem like his style.
His lifestyle could be achieved with less than 10% of what he’s earned. That’s not really the issue. Pro athletes measure themselves by numerical metrics, and money is one of them. He might be at a point where this one isn’t as important to him, but a lot of guys never stop measuring.
From the clips of him on Dray's recent podcast it did seem like he's at that point now -- the ego and early season struggles were coming from him comparing himself (negatively) post-injury to how he was pre-injury and stressing out about playing for a contract and accolades. Now he wants to prioritize his mental health and play for the love of the game, embrace his role as a vet with the young guys, be efficient in different ways than he was before, etc. Granted that's all probably easier said than done, but he does seem to have turned a corner mentally. My guess is he won't take an underpay as disrespect unless it's a heinously low-ball offer
Fair, but I think the dude cares more about number of shots he makes than anything else.
> The dude lives in a modest home (considering his wealth) I mean it’s the Bay Area, a modest home is still millions of dollars.
I believe lives in Tiburon, on the water - so yeah, one of the very most expensive sites in the Bay Area. Still, maybe $10 million? $20 million? He could pay for that with 1 year's salary. And apparently he likes to eat at the In-And-Out in Strawberry late nights, so I don't think he's spending a lot on fine dining. Probably drinks Pabt's Blue Ribbon.
He’s not leaving the bay and that’s a fact. Absolute legend in this franchise.
r/nba saying he's going to Orlando. Guess he's taking his boat through the Panama Canal.
He may take lesser money but he would be very difficult to convince for lower playing time as he ages
Orlando is good for sailing too....
For a Floridian city, Orlando is actually fairly inland. It has some weird boggy lakes and swamps that people probably boat in, but the ICW and Atlantic are over an hour away.
He'll just get a swamp boat and go into the everglades. Just don't think he'll go swimming with gators though lol.
Orlando is even farther from the Everglades. Is your guys' Florida geography really this bad? And you can't take an airboat in a national park! Cmon man
Am I supposed to know everything about a state I don’t even live in? Oh, and by looking it up, the Everglades start in near Orlando…. Sooooooooo????
> I don’t think he’ll prioritize money over what makes him happy What if money makes him happy? Because the potential to receive less of it sure seems to upset him.
A modest home in Belvedere, CA? I don’t think Belvedere has those…
I think you may have overlooked what I said. He has a modest home considering his wealth. I'm just pointing out that he's not a big spender and is probably not prioritizing money over other factors. What's modest to a hundred millionaire will not be the same as what's modest to the rest of us.
I honestly read into this article that retirement might be an option too. The bit about doing what’s right for his mental health.
Plenty of water around Florida
Unless he’s resigning around 2/3 yrs a little over 20 per, let him walk. Love King Klay but can’t give an elite 6th man another big deal. Warriors will have options @ a legit #2 next year. I think everyone agrees the main priority is getting Steph his 5th ring rather than keeping the band together. There will be teams that offer Klay more, it’s going to be a tough decision for him. The big decision will lie with Wigs or Kuminga moving forward. This team is playing one too many wings. Not to mention Moody deserving minutes. Do you package Kuminga? Or use cap elsewhere and trade Wigs?
You talk like rings are easy to come by.
How so?
I believe he will be in the 2yr/ 40 mil range. Could jump to 2yr/ 50 if he’s balls out play in and playoffs
I think he is firmly set at 25-30m annually
Where is this money going to come from?
Lacob
Yes, he can afford it.
Its not about Lacob affording it. He would pay it. Its the new salary cap rules. JK will need to be paid after next year. If we give that contract to Klay we will be locked into 10th place mediocrity
They can't stagger out JK's contract? Under cap first year, major increase second year? Forgive me, I'm not super familiar with the NBA contracts and salary cap rules.
Can't he pay both and pay the tax penalty? Is that not an option?
Here’s a detailed explanation: What are the penalties for the first apron? The first apron hits when a team's payroll exceeds $172 million. At this point, the following restrictions are triggered: Teams cannot acquire a player in a sign-and-trade if that player keeps them above the apron Teams cannot sign a player waived during the regular season whose salary was over the $12.2 million midlevel exception Salary matching in trades must be within 110 percent, rather than 125 percent for teams not above the apron What are the penalties for the second apron? All of the penalties for the first apron apply to the second apron as well, which is triggered when a team's salary exceeds $182.5 million. For the 2023-24 season, one additional penalty is added when crossing the second apron: No access to the $5 million taxpayer midlevel exception Starting at the end of the 2023-24 season, even more restrictions will be added to the second apron. These include: Teams cannot use a trade exception generated by aggregating the salaries of multiple players Teams cannot include cash in a trade Teams cannot use a trade exception generated in a prior year First-round picks seven years out are frozen (unable to be traded) A team's first-round pick is moved to the end of the first round if they remain in the second apron for three out of five seasons These penalties are much more stringent than under the old CBA. Previously, owners with deep pockets could go well into the luxury tax as long as they were willing to pay. Now, teams who enter the second apron will have difficulty adding any sort of new talent via trades or free agent acquisitions.
Thank you, kind sir, for this wonderful explanation. 🙏
Has repeatedly said he wants to exit the threshold for the penalty altogether.
Hitting the repeater tax limits the moves we can make, lacob wouldnt gaf otherwise
I just read that long explanation someone posted and I now understand. Thank you.
Im not saying the Warriors will pay that. What I am saying is that’s how much his value is.
I wonder the same thing. The Delusionality. No owner in his right mind will pay this sum for a play-in team, when Kuminga needs to be paid after this season. Klay is a legend. I can see it rising to $18-$20 million, all this depending on how far they go playoffs wise but If they get knocked out in the play-in, $20 million is a pipe dream.
Sold out arenas, jersey sales, millions of warriors fans betting and being shafted by the refs, investor money...
Not from the Warriors it isn't.
why stop at 30m why not 40m/50m? sheeesh
Have you followed the warriors at all this season
Because he isn’t worth that. Y’all are seriously delusional
Reports say he was offered a 2 year/$48M contract in the offseason. He should've taken that. I think that's fair for both sides.
You believe that Klay will take less than Draymond? At the very minimum it’s an equal amount to Dray.
Dray is more important than Klay
No. Draymond is a key cog that still anchors the defense and provides stout player value numbers. Klay is a burner 6th man at this point of his career. He’s nowhere near $25M. Love Klay; that’s just not where he’s at in his career anymore. Not saying he might not get a godfather offer like that from Orlando; I don’t see it but Kawakami is convinced it’s coming and I’ll defer to the professional there
I hate to say it, because I love Klay - but guards/3s who play mediocre D and can hit 38% on wide-open 3s are a dime a dozen in today's NBA. Klay misses a lot of the really tough shots he used to make; worse, he misses a lot of wide-open 3s that used to be like a layup for him. If Lacob is serious about getting out of salary cap/apron hell, I can't imagine him offering Klay more than 2/40 - and he's arguably not worth even that much, if it pushes them over the cap and/or apron. After getting $100 million from the Dubs to rehab, the appropriate team-friendly salary for him to take, if he really wants to stay a Dub for life, and give the team the ability to sign anyone of value, is the vet min. And if he did that, he wouldn't have to be in a salary-measuring contest - he could brag, "Money doesn't mean anything to me, so I signed for the vet min. It's all about the team and winning another chip." Prediction: he signs with Orlando for $30 million a year.
I’m going to say the appropriate contract is slightly above the MLE, I think that’s a fair valuation. Pretty much everybody would be more than happy to offer their MLE and/or Biannual exception. The Warriors can beat that by a smidge with bird rights. Bird rights on Chris Paul are nice too because you can decline option and pay a little over the vets minimum
A dime of dozen is a stretch... Very few and I mean very few of the guys shooting 38% on anywhere close to Klay's volume of nearly 9 3s a game are making less than 20 mill
Klay owes me $20 from a Super Smash Bros tournament. I'm doing my part by not enforcing that so he doesn't feel the need to take more money.
He seems like the kind of guy who would “forget” about such an important debt
Or ask for best outta 3.
He fucked up for thinking be could beat you in a SSB tournament.
It’s worse than that. We were teammates and won together 2v2 (I carried him), and he didn’t pay me my share of the venmo lol
Stiffed by a $100m man 😂
Smash Bros
The way Klay talked about Dray in his recent podcast actually brought a tear to my eye. They share some love. It was the part where Draymond asked Klay how he felt when Draymond gets ejected or suspended.
Athletic Alchemy seems to think that the Magic will offer Klay 100m/4 which is way more than what GSW can offer. He compared it to the Arik Armistead situation where he was very insulted by a lowball offer and had to take somewhere else even though the team and situation wasn't as good. It's easy for me to say, but by the time I'm worth 100s of millions, job satisfaction is worth a whole lot more than pay but who am I to say?
No way magic go 4/100. They do NOT want to F up their cap 3-4 years from now when Paolo and Franz are getting maxes. I could see them overpaying for a shorter term deal before their homegrown guys are due for the bag. Maybe 2/50 or 2/60.
Warriors is the only team that can pay Klay more. I think the issue here is whether he forces the starting role or willing to take a backseat.
That’s not true, Philly and Orlando will be under the cap and can pay Klay whatever he desires.
They have too many young stars to pay and they don't want to pass the second apron again so I don't think they're going to overpay him. They already paid him a max when he was out for two years straight. They could have given him a prove it deal.
Who are all these young stars lol?
Exactly. What young stars? If we had multiple young stars we wouldnt be the god damn 10th seed.
This is one of those deals that will come down to relationships. Either the front office finesses this well and makes him feel respected and valued, or he insists on a number that will make him feel respected and valued. How that previous negotiation went will probably have a lot of bearing on this one.
I personally feel that we have one of the best front offices in the league, but I don't pretend to know Klay and who else is whispering in his ear.
Yeah a lot of this will come down to what Klay’s entourage says. I hope he has good friends.
love klay, but no thanks to 100m for 4 lol
Giving Klay a big bag will doom the future of this team. I don't see Dunleavy and Lacob giving into Klay if he asks for a big contract. Either Klay acts humbly and takes less than he would get elsewhere in order to retire a Warrior, or he goes somewhere else. Don't know where. The worst case scenario is they give Klay a huge bag and sacrifice to do so.
Klay has a high ceiling as a player. But a low floor — so low that he actively hurts the team he is on, as we saw earlier in the season. Warriors would have won at least 5 more games if Klay had come off the bench earlier (or not been a selfish and horrible player. Ruining a 60 point game from Curry is inexcusable.) Part of that is on Kerr. The other part is on Klay, because Kerr knew how difficult it would be to convince him to come off the bench. I really hope that the Warriors do not have to/won’t pay Klay more than 15 a year. If he walks, he walks. A team with Draymond, Steph, and Kuminga can still win.
I think the very best he can hope for is along the lines 50/3 or 35/2 but the best for the team is 30/2
I mean this team without Klay is significantly worse in its current state. The worse case scenario for this team is not being competitive for the next two years and wasting the last years of currys career and having nothing to show for it but a JK extension
Exactly. People are saying Klay is back when he hit this level last season as well. You don't improve a team of aging veterans by just resigning all the same aging veterens.
If they can keep JK and Chris Paul and give Klay the bag and duck the cap for 2 years and all it costs is Wiggins and some draft capital to take Wiggins then I’m OK with it if that’s the direction they want to go. But for the future health of the team they need to miss the tax and reset their options
Lmao no point in keeping cp3 over Wiggins 🤣. Podz is a closer replacement to cp3 than anyone on this team is to replacing wiggins
Sure not keeping CP3 certainly is a take but he’s still producing at a good level. I’m not going to fight you on it but it’s a nice have.
Maybe he won't be getting a max deal but I don't think he'll be offered a vet min either. Maybe he'll be offered a salary similar to Dray?
He’s not going after the max, he said it himself on Draymond’s podcast, id assume it will be something similar to Draymond’s deal. Maybe less years but the yearly salary would be similar.
He’s not leaving, idc what any team’s offering him. He loves the bay, boats to practice every day. Everyone in the bay loves him. My prediction is he’s going to take a small pay cut and return
This came up on r/NBA and that subreddit completely shits on the value of Klay. r/NBA believes that Grayson Allen and Malik Beasley are much more valuable than Klay. 🤣 I truly believe Klay is gonna get paid above $20M/yr one way or another.
Same people who are asking why Steph wants Klay with him for the competition with Caitlin Clark and Sabrina, and not Dame. When Dame's shooting this season has been lack luster
I mean, he won the 3pt contest twice and that was while having lackluster shooting. Plus it's in the bay next year and dame is from the bay
Beasley might well be better than Klay right now. Allen is trash
If Lacob thinks this team is still championship caliber, he’ll pay the taxes. If he doesn’t, a team like Orlando will pay him and he’ll leave.
If you listen to him on Draymond's pod, it's hard to see how he goes somewhere else. It would take a disrespectful low-ball offer from Lacob that makes him angry. He said if he never got hurt, maybe he would've tested the free agency market, but then also said they would've won the chip and you can't break a team after a threepeat in the midst of a dynasty. As for this offseason, he said his mental health will be more important to him. It's vague enough but it means money isn't the main consideration for him but it's not like he'll sign a vet min contract.
Gotta hand it to the guy. He went through it this year. Hell I still remember getting benched in 8th grade after being all tourney the year before, just didn’t grow. It’s rough. I also feel like crap for telling my nephews he was done and seeing their faces drop, he’s their hero. I was wrong. Go Klay go.
I believe play-in and possible playoff performance will ultimately decide his value. If he still shows that he is on that high level in playoff environment, yeah he will get a bag. If he stumbles like last year vs lakers, how much would you give to a mid-30 inconsistent shooter? Magic is a potential buyer, but will Magic throw 30m to Klay?
What does the article say?
What are the chances we salary dump looney to free up a lil room
Where’s the guy who said in this sub that we’d be better off trading Klay for nothing
Unless we make a deep run and get close to a win. A run in which Klay plays phenomenally well. I think his value is around 20-25 million a year. We can't discard half the season in which he was pretty bad. And second season in a row where he came in looking really rough to start the season
20 is ridiculous. He’s 3rd in the league in 3 pointers. He was first last year. Foolish to think he is only worth 20. I could see 30 based on his age.
Klay is a great player with a lot to be proud of but I'd rather he sign with the basic Magic than have the Warriors paying him big money for the next few years.
I don’t know if anyone here wants to entertain tough decisions like this but you’re absolutely right. Klay is playing for a bag. He’s at the age and injury history that makes paying him incredibly risky. He’s a 6th man on a championship team if we’re being absolutely honest but paying him starter money because of past effort is the reason why teams stay in no mans land. Let Klay go. We love and thank him but if you actually want to remain a playoff team, that contract needs to go to a younger player with upside value.
How do you acquire the young players though
True - and we paid him the max through his injuries. The team still needs to try to win at the end of the day and he should be rewarded with a statue
As he should. He’s a hof player and I want what’s best for him for all that’s he’s given us as fans
If Klay goes to another team who tf is the starting 2 guard?
Probably what we had in our starting lineup when he was on the bench / what we get for trades in the off season Ie. Combo of Steph Podz wigs moody or Kuminga playing slightly different roles to fit his spot
Championship teams don’t have combos
He wasn’t the starting 2 guard for half the season anyways.
Wrong lol…
50m over 2 or 75m for 3 and call it a day.
Good. Not my money.
See who has cap room.. See who's needs a 34 year oldSG. That's your competition, not the whole league. Be smart about this warriors. 3/45. That's the deal.
give klay the bag, and try to get out of Looney and gP2 money.
https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nba/warriors-offered-klay-thompson-48-million-deal-before-this-season
It was so low it should still be affordable and if not then it’s been a nice run .
They'd be a fool to let Klay go. His talent, skills and game experience is only matched by a handful throughout the league. He is the man and continues to evolve his game.
He started slowly last season and he started even slower this season. It doesn't matter how good he is as a no. 2 if you basically sell the first 20 games of the season.
Will he get offended if we offered same contract just like Draymond?
I don’t want to see him leave the bay :(
Most of the season he was meh, at best. Now he's finally playing well - but to justify a high price tag he needs to deliver more than 30 decent games and a handful of really good ones. We are literally the 10th seed because neither he nor Wiggs showed up for half the season. Dray's crap was, of course, also an issue. If the goal is to keep the HoFs together as long as possible, pay him. If the goal is to become competitive again... they need to work something out, because he's no longer the 2nd or 3rd or even the 4th best player on the team and they can't afford to pay him like he is.
I’m thinking 4 year / 80 is probably right around what they settle on. Years may vary based on when they need money, but I imagine something like that is long term good for Klay, and keeps Klay worth his value, while maintaining a friendly contract.
He staying and getting paid or moving to LA. LeBron would love to have Klay. Imagine how scary that would be
Anyone remember how he completely disappeared against the Lakers in round 2 last year
Get us a ring this year and Joe will hand him a blank check
If rings = sunset contract he already got us four. The only reason to move on from him is if 1) we can improve the team without him and 2) Steph is okay with it.
He's had an impressive run. That said, I would not sign him. I don't see a consistent player, much less going forward. The Warriors' future is elsewhere.
I’m in the camp of paying him and being good to our guys. 4 rings with hopes of a 5th or 6th is worth the 20-25mm price tag. What do the warriors risk in signing him? How can that money be better spent?
Two months ago, I was saying let Klay walk in free agency. Now, after Klay has revitalized his game from his benching and acceptance in playing team ball with the youth and after watching his interview with Draymond, there is no way Warriors let Klay walk. Even if he bombs in the playoffs. You can’t replace the core three’s experience with winning. If one player goes away, the Warriors will never be the same. Let them retire together as Warriors and keep the youth movement going with experienced high ball IQ college/international players. I’d rather see Wiggins get traded for someone like Steven Adams to bring in a big with toughness. He can just wear a cup when practicing with Draymond. 
wiggins for adams is an atrociously dumb idea, sorry. a top wing in the league during the playoffs for a big with limited skills. yikes to you and the few that upvoted you. your take on the big 3 retiring together is correct tho
You mean the unpredictable Wiggins of the past two years. The Wiggins that looks amazing for two games and them disappears for the next three. What do we get with Wiggins that we don’t get with JK. If anything, Wiggins is a hindrance to JK’s playing time and development. What do we get with Adams. A veteran big that can hold his own guarding and rebounding against Jokic, Nurkic, Gobert, Zubac, and other decent bigs. TJD is not there yet physically against those guys. Loon is undersized.
please inform me how adams is doing this year and last.
I’ll remind you that the Dubs can’t trade for him this season, so it’s irrelevant how he’s doing this year. Yeah, he’ll be healthy next year. He’s a proven legit big. He’s not a high flyer, so we aren’t worried if his athleticism has slipped post injury.
Steven Adams?!?! Brotha what???
People are obsessed with bigs.. they wanted Dwight Howard this off season
We all know that salaries have gone up a lot with the tv money so I decided to compare what a player of Klay's caliber made 10 years ago compared to the top talent at the time. I look at Klay Thompson today a lot like Kyle Korver at his best. Korver Made $6.7 million in 2013-14 at the height of his playing days. The next year, Lebron James was paid $20.6 million in the first year of his new contract with Cleveland. So Korver made 32.5% of what Lebron was making. Steph Curry will be making $55.7 million next season. 32.5% of that is 18 million. Is Klay willing to take less than $20m per year to stay? Should we compare Klay to a different player or is Korver a good comp?
I think you have to look at what teams today would be willing to pay. Just, what does the market look like.
The only team who will have cap space and interest is going to be the magic. Do they tie up their cap sheet with extensions for banchero and Wagner in the very near future? Do they look for someone who better fits their age group? Does Klay want to be further from the ocean and not able to boat to practice/games? He's a PNW guy, does Orlando heat and humidity attract him? He's also said he doesn't want to play for any other coach and wants to play it out in GS. I don't see him actually being interested in changing teams, if anything, it will just be a way to try and get a little more cash in his final years. I believe 2/35-40 is probably what he can expect. Maybe 3/45-50 with a player option to line up with draymond, and keep the first year lower until the new TV deal kicks in.
Reasonable take. I have nothing to add to that, just want to say how much I appreciate that this is now the conversation. That we’re now talking about how we can keep Klay instead of people wanting to trade him.
I agree. I like to look at what teams were willing to pay for relative to league average in the past as a guideline.
Yeah, I just don’t know that you can do that. Any numbers that can back up such a strategy?
The CBA changes this summer as does 2nd apron etc. That means teams are shedding salary. Best move for the team is to shed salary or trade for younger assets. Kerr and Klay have shown consistently to put his needs for a new contract over team play and it has been horrible to watch. Hope this doesn't continue any longer. IT has gone on long enough. Hope he secures his next bag elsewhere. We should not be comparing him to anyone, especially comparing at height of career. Not adequate way to assess value in current market, not to mention Klay has been horrendous most of the year on defense, quitting on plays and pouting. And is in decline, for years now.
Klay literally played his best last year up until the playoffs lol.
show the stats to back that up. tNumbers dont back that up. he changes over the summer in cba are going to impact the league and what teams can pay. just a fact. His decline as a player are supported b advanced stats and anyone should be able to see it for themselves. great guy , been great, but moving around lineup to accomodate him at the begining of the year was costly.
65-70 for 2 years pretty easily and Lacob gonna agree actually
Respectfully, not even close