Golden State Warriors: Giving Klay Thompson a max extension is a necessary mistake

The Golden State Warriors are likely going to give Klay Thompson a max extension this offseason. It’s quite clear that it’s a necessary mistake.

The Golden State Warriors are heading into a potential future-altering offseason. The Warriors have a laundry list of important things to do during the offseason. And one of the bigger decisions on the Warriors’ offseason to-do list revolves around Klay Thompson.

He is officially on an expiring contract, opening the door for him to be a free agent after the 2023-24 NBA season. But that also means he’s going to be eligible for a contract extension this summer. And you’d have to imagine that he’ll at least have some conversations with the Warriors about a potential new deal.

The big question that the Warriors need to answer this offseason is whether or not they will give Klay the likely max contract extension that he wants. While on the surface it may seem like a simple decision to make, when you add in the Warriors’ current salary cap situation, it becomes much more complicated.

The Golden State Warriors re-signing Klay Thompson may not be as simple as it seems

Without accounting for upcoming free agents, and without a new contract number for Draymond Green, who is likely going to re-sign with the team, the Warriors have $174 million already guaranteed on their cap sheet.

If they were to re-sign Thompson, that overall cap number is likely only going to go up. And that’s not even accounting for Draymond. Short of making a trade or two to significantly lower their cap number, the Warriors could be looking at a huge tax bill. For a team that may not even be a contender next season, you can’t help but wonder if it’s something team ownership will want to do.

That said, the Warriors are in a position where they almost have to re-sign Klay. At this point, I have a hard time believing that Golden State can willingly blow up the big three. It seems as if Steph Curry wants to go down next to Klay and Draymond. And the recent reporting seems to suggest that it’s something the Warriors may be willing to do.

However, with that decision comes other big ones – likely revolving around trading a big-money player or two over the next couple of seasons.

If I had to guess, my gut tells me that the Warriors will likely re-sign Klay but it won’t come until next offseason. They’ll likely try to kick this can down the road as much as they can. But Klay will almost certainly finish his career in Golden State.