Three trade ideas to help the Golden State Warriors move on from Klay Thompson.
After a hot start to the season, the Golden State Warriors have cooled off as of late. Aside from Stephen Curry, who is putting up MVP-like numbers once again, the Warriors have struggled to find consistency in their supporting cast. Their second-best player this season has been Klay Thompson. But even his future is very much in doubt after the two sides weren’t able to reach a contract extension.
Even though the Warriors re-signed Draymond Green during the summer, I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that they’re going to bring Klay back. He’s going to demand a huge contract extension and at this point in his career, the Warriors may not think he’s worth the money. Especially considering they’re already locked in with several other big contracts.
Why would the Golden State Warriors want to move on from Klay Thompson?
It may be unlikely but if the Warriors would want to begin to prepare for the future, moving on from Klay could be the move. And if they wanted to do so via trade at some point this season, perhaps if they continue to look like a non-contender in the Western Conference, there could be some interesting possibilities on the table.
Let’s explore three trade ideas that could help the Warriors effectively unload Klay Thompson.
The New York Knicks land their star
Over the past few months, it’s been almost a foregone conclusion that the New York Knicks are eventually going to trade for a star-level player. At some point, they’re going to make a move for a star. They have the assets to pull off a deal and are one of the few teams in the league that are realistically a star player away from being a true championship contender. Would Klay Thompson be a level of player that would help the Knicks make that jump?
There’s reason to believe that he would be. The Knicks have a need at the shooting guard position and he would give the team a consistent threat on the perimeter that they currently don’t have. For as good as Quentin Grimes can be on the defensive end of the floor, I’m sure they’d take Klay in an instant.
Would a core four of Brunson, Klay, RJ Barrett, and Julius Randle be enough for the Knicks to compete with the likes of the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference? I’m not confidently sure that’d be enough but it could be worth it for the Knicks to give it a try.
OKC adds a veteran star
I’d be intrigued with the possibility of the Oklahoma City Thunder making a move for a veteran star. And if Klay Thompson does hit the open market, I think the Thunder should at least explore the possibility. The only potential problem that could arise is whether the Thunder would want to offer up some of their best assets for what could potentially be a half-season of his services. Of course, if he were to agree to an extension, that would be different. But that could be false hope.
Nevertheless, in a vacuum, Thompson could be a great fit for the Thunder. He’d give OKC some legitimacy as a veteran star and would take a ton of pressure off of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the offensive end of the floor.
Giving up Josh Giddey and Lu Dort could seem like too much from the Thunder’s perspective but at a certain point, this team is going to have to go all-in. Maybe that could be for a player like Thompson.
Klay Thompson finally gets to Los Angeles
With this latest idea, we get a bit creative. Seeing that if Klay Thompson had his way in leaving Golden State he would probably want to find his way to Los Angeles, the Lakers almost have to be on this list. Because of their cap situation with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, a third team would almost have to be involved to make this deal happen. For the sake of outlining a potential deal, we’ll use the Orlando Magic as a team that will play along to help push this deal across the finish line.
In this deal, the Lakers land Klay Thompson by sending Austin Reaves, Jalen Hood-Schifino, and Taurean Prince to the Golden State Warriors and D’Angelo Russell to the Magic. The Warriors also send Jonathan Kuminga to the Magic as part of the deal. The Warriors would also get two future first-round picks (one from Los Angeles and one from Orlando).
Klay would get to finish his career playing for the iconic Lakers with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Warriors would bolster their depth while getting a potential star player with Reaves coming over.
I’m not sure how feasible this deal would be in the big picture but it’s one that checks a lot of the boxes for many of the camps involved.