The dynastic state of the Golden State Warriors throughout the years serves as a double-edged sword for the franchise itself. While they reap widespread support and winnings benefits as a title-contending team, they are meanwhile facing a huge dilemma of trying to retain their foundational pieces and managing that ballooning salary cap that stands as the heftiest throughout the association. The plans of sustaining the pieces that brought them up to the apex of basketball relevance can’t be more troubling with their expenses delivering a huge hit based on the limitations of the league ruling.
One significant segment of their complex current budget handling scenario is Klay Thompson. Thompson, now at age 33, has one more season left in his five-year max deal with the Dubs last 2019 which will pay him over $43 million next 2023-24 season. He is eligible to get signed for an extension this summer.
As such, their case with Thompson appears set to be even more complicated as Adrian Wojnarowski reported Saturday that the All-Star got “expectation” that he will get another maximum contract extension from the Dubs brass this offseason.
“Thompson, I’m told, has an expectation that he would be rewarded with a new, max-level contract extension this offseason,” Wojnarowski stated in the pre-game of the Warriors’ first-round opener against the Sacramento Kings. “He’s got a year left on his deal at $43 million dollars next year. He’s come back this year and it certainly helped the team to a championship last year. [He] had a historic offensive this season – just the third player ever to have 300 three-pointers in a season.
“But this is an inflection point now for the Golden State organization with Klay Thompson, Steph Curry and then Draymond Green, who could opt into his deal at $27 million. The Warriors could be facing a payroll and luxury tax over $500 million. It remains to be seen whether Joe Lacob is going to pay that.”
After enduring a tough initial stretch that drew hecklings from many to start the season, Thompson bounced back and ignited himself when it mattered the most. Besides hitting a milestone of 300 total treys in the regular season, he stepped up his game when Stephen Curry was out 26 times due to multiple injuries and Andrew Wiggins being unavailable for months due to family matter, helping the Warriors to evade the Play-In tourney to glue themselves at the sixth-place heading to this year’s postseason.
Throughout 69 games he played, Thompson averaged 21.9 points, 4.1 boards, 2.4 assists with 41.2 percent shooting from three. These numbers are identical to what he is producing in his pre-major injury times, and it is more splendid that his sweet touch never faded away.
With the new collective bargaining agreement set to further restrict their spending capacities starting next season, it is truly enticing to see how things will play out for both Thompson and the Warriors. Besides the star swingman, they are also set to hammer huge decisions on top executive Bob Myers’ expiring contract and Draymond Green’s likely opting out of his 2023-24 player option to seize a much better deal.
