Klay Thompson is hoping to secure a big contract with the Warriors next summer after declining extensions this offseason and betting on himself to produce at a high level. That hasn’t worked out through the start of the season, as Klay is struggling mightily. ESPN has reported that the contract talks are weighing on Thompson and have severely impacted his body language on the court, bench, and with his teammates.
“(Klay) Thompson’s slump to start this season feels different. His contract negotiations are weighing on him, sources told ESPN, and he appears to be noticeably more frustrated during games. He sometimes sits on the end of the bench by himself during timeouts, or slaps his head after taking a bad shot.”
Thompson has had a slow start to almost every season in his career, known to find his shooting rhythm as the winter progresses. A similar situation played out last season before Thompson ended up carrying the Warriors to wins in January 2023 without Stephen Curry on the court. That explosive shooter is still within Klay, he just needs to refocus his energy on the court instead of worrying about the future.
Klay is in the final year of a five-year, $189.9 million contract, expected to make over $43 million this season. Getting back to a payday like that may be impossible for Klay, who got this contract in the summer of 2019 after his ACL tear but before his 2020 Achilles tear.
Klay Thompson Finding His Groove Again
It’s funny that the ESPN report has come out just as Thompson has started playing well again. He’s averaging 18.8 points in his last five games, a big improvement over the 13.8 points on 40.1% shooting he averaged through the first 12 games of the season.
The Warriors need Klay to have 20-point nights like the one he had tonight against the Kings more often. When he’s making his shots, the Warriors still look like one of the most dangerous teams in the league.
Klay’s best bet is to impress the Warriors enough to have them offer him a new contract, but he needs to play his way into getting the dollar amount he feels he deserves. The new cap rules in the NBA mean the Warriors can’t just pay Klay any amount they want to respect his contributions to the franchise.
They can’t afford to pay Curry, Klay, and Draymond upwards of $100 million combined at their current age without production to back it up. Klay will have suitors in free agency, so he’s likely going to leverage that to get a better offer from Golden State. Given the new salary floor rules, a team with a lot of cap space could easily give Klay a massive contract for two years, as the Rockets did with Fred VanVleet.
To make any of the above happen, Klay needs to continue playing as the star we’ve been over the last few games and not the lost role player we saw to start the season.
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