Klay Thompson has been one of the greatest players in the Golden State Warriors history, the three-time champion has recently shown his loyalty to the franchise by committing to re-sign.
However, there was certainly a big chance that Thompson wouldn’t be at the Warriors when he was almost traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2014. This came off the back of a disappointing first-round exit against the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2013-14 season. The franchise knew they were talented enough to be a genuine threat in the postseason, the question remained on who could take them towards a potential championship.
The Warriors had their main star in Steph Curry, alongside him, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes. Klay Thompson was a part of the team as an incredible shooter but besides that, there wasn’t too much more to his game unlike his abilities now in the game. Thompson’s position in the team was not completely solid, if the Warriors were able to find something worth a lot of value, they would be willing to consider it.
This is where the Timberwolves come into play, the franchise was considering trading Love knowing that he wasn’t planning on re-signing with them. Minnesota were clearly looking for young talent and Klay Thompson fit that category well and was someone that interested them greatly. This began the rumor mill, Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes for Kevin Love was a possible deal that had a massive chance of happening.
Jerry West who was very influential in bringing Kevin Durant to the Warriors had a massive say in keeping Klay Thompson in the end. He shut down talk about the deal knowing how important he is to the franchise and their journey forward.
The decision to keep Klay Thompson paid off in ways the Warriors couldn’t even imagine, three championships and five NBA Finals appearances with the shooting guard playing a crucial role over those years.
The Wolves haven’t had the same luck as the Warriors, unfortunately the franchise has yet to really make any impact in the league over the recent years. It’s hard to say if Thompson would have made a big difference or not, the star shooting guard may have possibly moved on from Minnesota as soon as he had the chance.
One thing that’s certain is Warriors fans are very grateful that Klay Thompson was never traded.
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