The more I think about Klay Thompson’s impending free agency, the more I think Mike Dunleavy, Jr. should just pay him what he’s paying Draymond Green and call it a day. What could be more fair than that? Let me explain…
Bobby Marks of ESPN recently said Thompson could be offered as much as $30 million (see transcript below), with Orlando, OKC and Philadelphia the playoff teams with enough cap space to do so.
Our favorite Draft analyst and salary cap guy Eric Guilleminault of NBADraft.net, someone who has a pulse on contract values across the NBA, thinks Klay is worth more around $20-24 million.
As a side note, the day before long-time Chicago beatwriter KC Johnson reported three days ago that the Bulls could offer a two-year, $80-million extension to DeMar DeRozan, Guilleminault told me if he were Joe Lacob, he’d offer Klay $24 million per year for three years and, if KT balked at that and took an offer elsewhere for that $30 million figure, would pivot to DeRozan for the same $24M per year, but at two years.
So now that DeMar’s been pegged as a $40 million guy by a super-reliable veteran Bulls beat reporter, no matter how ridiculous that $30 million sounds, that figure will surely justify a team like ORL or OKC or PHI to come in and offer $30M to Klay.
Of course, what the market is willing to bear for Klay is probably the Number One driving force of his free agency. It wasn’t too long ago — March 8th to be exact — when Mike Scotto of HoopsHype polled NBA executives and found that Thompson was in the range of $18 to 20 million. Of course, Scotto had to have polled those guys probably around mid-February. From March 1st til the end of the season, but not including the play-in game, Klay averaged 20.5 ppg, shooting 41% of threes and 46.4% overall (👀). Also with comparables, just like in real estate appraisals or Series A venture capital funding?m, you kind of have to take the most recent values.
Plus, we follow Klay’s every move on a near-daily basis, so we know his warts, as the saying goes, and we typically measure the people we track with constant expectations of them playing as close to their ceilings as possible, because we’ve seen them at their best. That is to say, the closer you are to something or someone, the lower your value judgment tends to be. And that’s perhaps why Guilleminault’s range for Klay is much lower.
And so, assuming we are talking about an “internal valuation” of $20 million and an external one of $30 million, why don’t we just split the difference, sort of, and offer him what Draymond is getting?
Green will be paid $24.1 million this upcoming season, $25.9 million for 2025-26, and has a player option for $27.7 million for 2026-27 (the season following when Stephen Curry’s current contract is scheduled to come to an end). And so Dray’s salary will go up year after year, and that’s what I mean by “sort of” splitting the difference.
Why quibble over a few million below DG or above DG? Just match it. And I do think Draymond’s role is much more difficult to replace than Klay’s, which is to say that, yeah, technically Green is worth more to the Warriors than Thompson. I don’t think most people in DubNation would argue with that. But if you do wanna argue for or against that, join us on our livestream tonight:
But if a team swoops in with some offer above $30 million, I don’t think this idea works, especially as I’m already hearing faint murmurs that Klay wants to get paid what someone is willing to pay him, which hits harder on the central theme of Shams Charania’s report the day after Golden State was eliminated by Sacramento:
Klay Thompson is very open to seeing his marketplace in free agency...I’m told his free agency is going to be about respect, about principle as far as where he stands in that organization…It's gonna be the hardest call in his life to make if he does end up finding another spot to leave, as far as calling Steph Curry, calling Draymond Green, calling them and saying I'm gone. https://x.com/runitbackfdtv/status/1780601811482927442
And there’s a lot of moving parts from now until July 1st, the start of free agency. And there could be some loud beacons as to where Klay is headed even before then. The NBA Draft Lottery is May 12th and, according to Marks, the Warriors have a 3.4% chance of landing one of the top four picks, which they would keep instead of conveying to Portland.
June 26th and 27th are the dates of the Draft itself, with the second round on the 27th, where GSW will pick 52nd. A day later, on June 28th, Chris Paul’s $30 million team option will most likely be waived, which will take that salary off Lacob’s books — Lacob did tell Tim Kawakami awhile back on Valentine’s Day on the “TK Show” podcast that he’s considering ducking under the luxury tax to finally avoid the repeater tax penalty that he’s paid since being hard-capped in the 2020 season.
There’s a lot that can happen between now and then and how somebody feels at the end of the regular season after losing the play-in, could be different than around the time of the Draft and into July. Klay himself even scoffed at Anthony Slater’s first question about his free agency, calling him “bro” which has become a barometer of his approval of the question asked him, over the years (see transcript below) — essentially, if Klay gives you a “bro”, he’s grumpy about your question.
So, we shall see, but if the highest annual offer is indeed $30 million and most of the better shooting guards in the NBA still aren’t making more than $20 million (one comparable: Kevin Huerter will make $16.8 million next season), then just go with Dray’s contract and call it a day. And thank me Draymond later.
Below are videos and transcripts (or snippets of) from Marks’ interview with 95.7 The Game last week, as well as Dunleavy and Klay’s exit interviews.
I’ll have more transcripts of all the exit interviews and more, coming up soon (ideally, day by day, but we know how that goes). I might even post the behind-the-scenes for the win at home versus Utah and the subsequent loss at Sacramento, as I never got around to it and there’s always something under the radar that we can talk about.
Thank you for your patience as I let some time pass this past week to recover from the abrupt end to the season…
BOBBY MARKS (NOT ENTIRE INTERVIEW)
Bobby, how much is Klay Thompson worth on the open market?
“I heard somebody say the non-tax mid level ($12.4 million in 2023-24), I was like, wait a minute. I was like, I know he was bad the other night in Sacramento. And I think that's the shame of it all. He wasn't good in Sacramento, but I thought he had been really good up until that point, kind of since the All-Star break here. I still think he's a $25, 30 million player. I really do. Is he for three years? Probably not. But if the Magic fall — I'm going to just give an example — if the Magic fall short, they need shooting desperately. Would you pay Klay 2 (years) for $60, 2 for $50, somewhere in that range? I think he's still a north-of-$20 million guy.”
Can the Warriors afford him at that price point that you're laying out? If it's 2 and $50 millio. even? Can Joe Lacob afford to bring him in and still stay below either apron, let alone the tax number?
“Yes, they can. Because if you take Chris off, that gets you down to about $141 million. You add $25 million there, it gets you $166. The apron's like $177. You could still add a couple minimum guys here. It's certainly doable as far as — and that gives you, as I said, some of those restrictions that you have right now begin to get lifted and it gives you more flexibility to go out and do another deal if you wanted to.”
…
Bobby, I wanted to follow up on your comment about, yes, the Warriors can afford Klay Thompson at $24-25 million per year. Can they afford Klay Thompson and also find a way to trade for a younger big name player?
“No, they can't. They can't. Because basically what will happen is, Klay would replace, if you waived Chris, would replace that. You're basically right at the luxury tax. You sign Klay and you move Chris and you take back a $30 million player, the likelihood is that you're going to be deep in the tax, you're going to be in the apron, and that's something, as you guys know, ownership has pretty much said no to, unless things change. I mean, things are pretty fluid, we don't know who that next disgruntled player will be, but as I said, the challenge, as far as going out and basically you gotta go dollar-for-dollar on every trade, certainly presents a challenge.”
So, then, then let's take the Warriors at their word, because they've all said in the last 48 hours they want to keep Klay. When you hear them say that, what does that mean to you, as far as their roster reconstruction?
“I think what it says is that they want to keep him, but there's a price to keep him at. And they're probably not willing to go back over a price. I think it's, listen, you've got Moody and Brandin as kind of fallbacks if things don't work, and eventually — and I know you've got Curry on two more years, and Green's got three more years — eventually, like, you're probably going to have to rip the Band-Aid off this. And if he's Step One to doing that, the challenge comes with if Curry was in the last year of his deal, then you could say, ‘Well, maybe you do it one more, run it back one more year. Steph's got two more years left and you still want to put out a competitive roster. And it's a matter of kind of having faith in those two young players that you can do it. As I said, if the price is too steep to bring him back, when you talk about ripping the Band-Aid off, when that actually happens and Jonathan Kuminga is still here.”
0:00 MIKE DUNLEAVY, JR. EXIT INTERVIEW: “Let me start by saying, I actually want to thank you guys for the year for covering the team and the whole thing. It's been a long year for everybody. A lot of ups and downs and you guys deal with a lot as we do. So thank you guys for a season that unfortunately for us, we feel like ended too soon, disappointed in our year, even though we finished with more wins than last year, I though we came up way short in terms of what we thought talent-wise, experience-wise, all those things that an ownership group, front office, coaches, players all signed off on the roster to start the season. And we just got ourselves too far behind the eight-ball, frankly, as the season went along and chased it down at the end and it was just too little too late in a tough Western Conference. So, a lot to figure out, lots of improve on, but disappointed to be here today, frankly.”
0:53 So Steph and Draymond and Steve have been vocal about wanting to bring Klay back, wanting to keep that backcourt together. How possible is it for you to build a championship team around them if they do stay intact?
“Well, considering they won four before, I would say it's well within the realm of reasonability. But certainly we want Klay back, first and foremost. I expressed that to him yesterday. I think our players have expressed that, our coaches, front office, ownership. Look, everybody wants Klay back. He's still a really good player and I think we have enough good players on our team. In our system, we have enough assets to acquire good players and we have the ability to keep getting better. So given that as long as those guys are still really good, like, yeah, I think we can contend and compete, but we just unequivocally have to improve.”
1:50 How much will financials come into play this summer and how reasonable is it to improve the roster, make the moves you want? Do you guys want to duck the luxury tax entirely?
“The financials always come into it. It's part of the puzzle. I wouldn't say we're at a point now where we're saying we’ve got to be out of the tax or we got to be under a certain apron or anything like that. We're gonna look at everything. I think if you've got a team that you feel can contend for a championship, you do what it takes financially. So, we'll look at everything. We'll balance it out. And it's hard to say right now in terms of, like, what it's gonna look like and all that because this is April. This stuff goes into June and July But you know how Joe is with his willingness to spend and compete, that I don't think there'll be any restrictions. But we'll also be prudent. I mean, to put a team out there that can't make the playoffs, like we spent 400 million dollars this year I wouldn't recommend that. So we'll figure it out, but I don't think we have anything set in stone in terms of parameters we’ve got to live by.”
2:55 Do you feel – you mentioned expressing to Klay that you want them back yesterday – do you feel like that's likely, do you feel like reciprocal, or do you think this is going to be like potentially a thorny negotiation?
“No, I think it's a mutual feeling. I mean, the guy's been here a long time. He means so much to the organization. We really, really value him. And so there's nothing that would make me think that he wants to go somewhere else or we don't want him back. And for that reason, I'm hopeful we can make it happen. But it's a deal. Both sides got to be good with it. And we'll work through that. But I am hopeful and optimistic about it.”
3:34 Mike, this season was kind of the microcosm of the Draymond Green experience. Can't live with him at times, you can't win without him. What is your feeling of certainty that he's part of this going forward, and how do you navigate that if he's sometimes just not available to you?
“Yeah, in terms of having him back, I think very, very high likelihood. I can't imagine a scenario where he's not back. Could be wrong, but he's signed up under contract. We value him. He's a core piece of what we do. So, fully expect him to be back. I think we went over 60 percent of the games he played in this year. So you know how meaningful he is to winning and he'll continue to do so. As far as the other stuff, part of it is managing him, Steph and Klay as they age. These are long seasons. These guys have been through a lot, so we've got to manage the emotional, the mental, the physical stress and fatigue these guys take on, and that will be a part of the process moving forward. But I think Draymond, I think he's in a great place mentally. Just evaluating and observing him over the season after the suspension, I think he's learned from it. I think he's better and we'll continue to work on that stuff and and have it on top of mind. But we're in a really good place with him and excited to have him back.”
5:00 How would you assess this season for Jonathan? And then being that he's extension-eligible this summer, how do you see his future here in Golden State?
“Yeah, I think really good growth out of JK. Frankly, put a ton of time in this office this past offseason, came in, had a great preseason and got off to a little bit of a slow start, but found his way and had a stretch there in the middle of the season that was not only one of the best players in our team, but in the league. And that's where we see the potential with him. And like, with him and our other young guys, vitally important that these guys take another step because, that's how we're going to balance this thing out with our more mature legacy players with a younger core of group that can push us forward and help us win. And like Moses, JK, those guys are extension-eligible. We'll get down the road with that. But unequivocally, we value them. We want them here. So we'll see. We'll see how that goes.”
5:54 Mike, earlier you said you have the assets to acquire good players, and Joe's never been afraid to take big swings, whether from Durant to reports of the inquiry in LeBron, whatever. I realize you can't talk about specific players, but how realistic, given the position you're in, given your roster, how realistic is it to take a big swing, to add a marquee player?
“Yeah, I mean, I think the premise of getting better, that's what we’ve got to look at for sure. So that will be taken into consideration. We’ve also got to be mindful of the player, who it is, the age of the player, the skill set of the player. It's all got to fit to be able to put the chips on the table to make a move. So those are the things we'll kind of look at and evaluate. But yeah, there's multiple ways to get better, and that's certainly one of them.”
6:43 Moses has had a kind of a, you know, strange first few years from a rotation standpoint. Every time it looks like he's broken through, DNPs as he enters Year Four as you rebuild the roster this summer. I mean, is there a desire to kind of clear the path for him a little bit, from a rotation standpoint or figure out his future, get it more settled than it has been?
“Yeah. I mean, I think the good and bad of the situation with Moses is first, he's improved. He's gotten a lot better and on top of it, I think any issues with him playing, frankly, are a result of our depth, which is also a good thing. But in the end, you're right. He hasn't probably played as much as we like, and there hasn't been a clear enough path. So that'll be something we'll look at. I think it's really important coming into Year Four for him that there is some reasonable playing time available for him where he can impact our team and be out there and continue to improve. And I think that's a fair thing.”
7:38 Mike, you've seen 83 games now, knowing what you lack, knowing how the West has stacked up in hindsight. Could you have improved this team at the deadline? Was there something that was out there that might have helped, looking back on it?
“I think knowing what I know now, there's not anything on the table that I would have done, or gone through with. I think it was good to see this team out. I think one of the best things about this year, frankly, is there are no catastrophic injuries. There's no, ‘Hey, Steph only played 40 games. What would this team be like without him, things like that.’ We know clearly what this team was. It wasn't good enough. And so there's no doubt about that. There's no what-ifs. If we would have made a move in the deadline, well, maybe that wasn't the right move. What if we kept this guy or that guy? We answered all those questions, and so now we can move forward with clarity. But going back on it now, I feel good about this team. We really put a lot into it before the season started and a lot of thought. I thought it could play multiple ways, pretty versatile, defensively, offensively. Do we do those throughout the year? No, but to be able to see that out after the deadline, I thought was important. That's where I get the feedback I got, from the players, the coaching staff and frankly, we were 27-12, the last half of the season. So I'm good with how we went after the deadline. Just don't like maybe the earlier part of the season that got us too far behind that we couldn't make up.”
9:05 Mike, following up on that, then moving into this offseason, what do you think your biggest roster needs are? What did you guys really lack this season?
“Yeah, I mean, look, it's like I said, we gotta get better in a lot of areas, but the ones that I think immediately jump off the page is, defensively we gotta be better. This is an organization, a team that when we've been really good and won championships, it's been mostly with defense. And then you’ve got some great exciting offensive moments that everybody thinks about, but it's really the defense that has been the core of the thing. So, improving defensively within, getting better defensive players. And then from there, I think as Steph and Draymond and Klay, those guys, kind of age, shooting is important. Shooting is important in this league. It's important to have guys that can shoot around them. So I think addressing that will always be a thing. But I think there's a – and then, honestly, size. Size and not necessarily at the center position, but positional size across the board, which has been a strong point of the teams here. Whether it's shooting guards, wings, small forwards, whatever it is, always had good size and length. So we like to always keep that in mind and address that. But those are probably the biggest areas that I'm thinking about right now.”
10:18 And you mentioned shooting. How much this season – there wasn't like a consistent secondary scorer that you could consistently rely on. Do you think that was an issue kind of throughout the year?
“Yeah, sure. I think so. I think a lot of it fell on Steph's shoulders. I think he would probably tell you that and you could notice it and the wear it took on him. In fact, really with some of his decision-making at times, too. And it's just a lot for him to burden. And we've got to find a way to help him out on that. And frankly, I think we've got some talent on the roster that can do that and maybe we’ve got to just be a little bit better about bringing that out. And so maybe there's some improvements from externally, but I think we have some ways internally to do that.”
10:59 Mike, after one year in this job, what's something you wish you knew last year that you'll take into next year?
“Oh boy, great question. I think with this thing, as the season goes along, you put together the best roster you can, you try and manage it, you go through it and then you just find yourself just sitting there, observing, feeling like a fan. And there's times where just not much you can do, good or bad. But honestly, I've worked here for a few years and it's not like a surprise. I don't think there's anything that surprised me where there's some things that were completely off the radar that happened between, maybe Draymond's suspension or what happened with Deki, those types of things. Yeah. Hopefully those things don't ever happen again. But there were learning moments and situations that we probably weren't expecting.”
11:56 What kind of presence in your mind is the managing of hese extra years, these maybe the end years of a dynasty? How much are you thinking, ‘Okay, let's just maintain these guys.’ And as Draymond said, do right by them for what they've done. And how much is it, ‘You know what, at some point you're going to need a roster that is past those guys’? Maybe not for a while, but how much of a weight is that? How much of a responsibility is that for you?
“Yeah. I mean, I think it's certainly a responsibility just because this team and organization means so much to the Bay Area. So you can feel what it means to the fans and even the people within the organization, the players, but it's kind of a cool opportunity. Normally you're trying to build a team from the startup and there's an ascension and all this. This is a little bit different. And so I relish the challenge, and by the way, those guys are aging out, like, it's Steph Curry. It's Draymond Green. It's Klay Thompson, like those guys are great guys to go out with. And they're really still good at basketball. So I think it's a manageable thing. Is it challenging? Yes. But I do relish it because it's unique and I think it's somewhat doable, so we'll see what happens.”
13:11 Mike, you touched on Deki and that was actually on my mind as to just how Steve and your coaching staff and support staff navigated that, the unthinkable for everybody. And Steve also tried so many different rotations this season and starting lineups and got Trayce such good experience. I mean, how did he navigate that with support from everybody else too?
“Yeah, I mean, Steve's masterful at that stuff. The Deki thing was new for everybody, so I can't say he was quite very experienced with that, but he handled it masterfully. It's a lot. An NBA season is a lot to navigate, and I think coming into it, the biggest thing our group wanted to push and focus on was our connectivity. And frankly, I thought we were great in that area. That showed up with the stuff with Deki, the stuff with Draymond, some just unthinkable losses that we had on the court with blowing big leads or having games in-hand that we gave up. This group never wavered. They stuck together, I just thought. But in the end, we came up short, like from a basketball standpoint, too many mistakes, just not enough discipline, the small things, getting back on defense, not turning the ball over, not fouling. Those things did us in and we're sitting here today with the season ended because of it.”
14:29 Steve said something the other night that kind of stuck out. He said that he needs to be better specifically talking about the offense, getting the offense into more rhythm and more flow. So, how do you think he was, over the course of this season? Obviously, off-the-court stuff was one thing, but on-the-court, how do you think that went?
“Yeah, I think it went well. I mean, hopefully that shows in the contract extension we gave him. And I think if there's anything I look back on and think about in question is, I think we built this team with a lot of depth in mind because some of our players on the roster are older, we've had some injuries. So you want to be able to survive those types of things. And frankly, we had great health this year and because of it, it kind of created a log jam with minutes and rotations. And maybe that made it difficult on Steve and the coaching staff at times. But I have to look back at it. Evaluate it. Not sure that the answer is to go the other way and have more of a pecking order and less depth because if you get hurt, you're in trouble. But I thought overall, Steve had another really good year. But I think we've almost in some ways – not to take away from the basketball part – but we value him and the way he can manage a team throughout the season, hold a team together. I mean, man, we had some tough stuff go on. And, like I said, this group never wavered.”
15:40 When you talk about what you just said, this team never wavered. They were healthy all season long, and you mentioned size is needed. And you said not necessarily at the center position. When you're going up against guys like Sabonis, AD, Jokic, and the Western Conference, is size inside at the center position not a remedy for the troubles defensively that you kind of mentioned there? And I have a follow up after.
“Yeah. I mean, look, that helps if you have the type of size that can combat those specific players who are like All-NBA Hall-of Fame players. To me, the worst thing you can do is try and just bring in a tall guy and say, ‘Hey, go guard Jokic.’ And that's not the answer. So we try to beat it with speed, with quickness, with smarts, those types of things. It's been pretty successful here. But overall, like, yeah, if we can find somebody that's 7’3 and highly skilled and can play both ends of the floor, sign me up. But those guys aren't really growing on trees.”
16:39 That is true. To follow up, being that the league is getting younger and obviously guys like JK really helped you guys to speed up the game, is there any emphasis on getting some more athleticism, younger, quicker guys to help to build around?
“Yeah, for sure. I think this modern NBA, the game is played so fast and we’ve got to be able to play that way. We struggled this year in transition, both ways defensively. Couldn't get back, which is a speed, athleticism, effort thing. And then going the other way, we didn't create a lot of turnovers and we're unable to get out in transition and use our athleticism with Wiggs and JK, GP, those guys. So we;ve got to solve that. We’ve got to be better both ways in transition. And we'll look to do that. Like I said before, not only free agency and draft and trades, but can our guys that we have now be better at that? And I think it's doable.”
17:35 Just overall, assessing the landscape of the West, how close do you feel like you guys are to closing that gap with some of the top teams?
“Yeah, I mean, we’ve still got really good players. We've got good young players. For me, we're closer to the top than we are the bottom, even though we finished 10th in the standings. That's kind of the way I see it. But that look that can change next year will be tough. The teams that didn't make the playoffs this year, you're looking at the outside-in with Houston, Memphis, San Antonio. I don't see a way for those teams to get worse. They're only gonna get better. So this is a tough conference, and this is why we’ve got to improve. We’ve got to get a lot better, too.”
18:14 Mike, Moses obviously made significant steps of progress this year, but you also got big contributions from Brandin and Trayce overall. How encouraged are you by that young core that you have on the roster?
“Yeah, I think we're excited about it, to have four young players that we think can really play. A little of it now is finding how it all works together and getting them the appropriate time and making sure that they can properly impact winning, but I feel a lot better about that group and just our overall direction of the team sitting here today than I did a year ago. And a lot of that's frankly because of having Brandin and Trayce, a couple more players that makes sense.”
18:56 When you talk about developing a better roster and being better than this year, what does that necessarily entail? Do you start looking at the playoffs now? Do you go back and look at games that you feel like other teams competed in better? When you talk about center, obviously Kevon lost minutes and lost kind of like his motivation there a little bit. And when you're looking at new talent and you're talking to Joe, at what point are you like, this is kind of most important, ‘let's work on this first and then get to everything else later’?
“Yeah, I think that's kind of what we're going through now. postmortem on the season, evaluating everything and really identifying the areas that we have to be better in. And then how can we get better? Is that working with our current players or is it something that we need from the outside? And so kind of taking all those things into account and evaluate, making the decisions. That's the way that we look at it.”
19:53 How would you assess your ability to make whatever tough decision you have to make, coming up? Is this difficult for you? Do you feel like you’re decades in the NBA and around NBA life make it a little bit easier to pull the trigger on something that is probably going to be difficult to do?
“Yeah, I mean, I think I probably operate off the saying, ‘There's never a bad time to make a good decision.’ So, doesn't mean it's not tough and you stir over it. But I get my job is to have the best interest of this franchise in the direction of this franchise when I make a decision or we make a decision. So, that's what I'm going to do.”
20:40 Chris has a very flexible contract situation. And you guys have also expressed maybe wanting him back. How do you view his future? And then just how do the financials of it all kind of complicate that?
“Yeah, I mean, I think overall, I was really pleased with Chris having him on this team this year, what he gave us in the locker room, on the court, off the court. I think admittedly he probably wished he had a larger role and could help the team a little bit more. But I think moving forward, because of his production – and the guy can still do it – and what he means to winning and all that stuff, we certainly have interest in bringing him back. But like the puzzle stuff, we’ve got to look at and figure out and see. And there's definitely a viable path to do that. But we're not really down the road yet of, like, specifically what we can and can't do.”
21:33 Mike, you referenced being closer to the top than the bottom of the West, and certainly that makes sense when you look at the second half, 27-12. It doesn't make sense when you look at the other night, right? As Steve said, you guys are kind of overwhelmed physically. Was that sort of jarring to see, not just that you lost, but the way you lost and how does that sort of color your view going into the off season?
“Yeah, honestly, not a lot. I don't take that game into consideration too much. It was just, that was the worst game we played all year. Give credit to Sacramento. They did a great job, but I watched this team for 82 games. I mean, the amount of times that we've been ran off the court, very few. I think there were a couple of home games in January. Obviously the Boston game where that was a different scenario. But that was a game the other night where you’ve got to be careful of overreacting to how it went. I don't think that represented our team on the whole for the season. But that being said, it kind of put the stamp on what the reality of this year was. So, here we are. And I would say going into that game, whether it win or lose, no matter how it happened, I knew we had to get better.”
22:45 Steve said the other morning, early this season, actually, that they needed to really kind of get the best out of the athletic guys like Wiggins and JK and Gary. And obviously, Wiggins missed a few games and JK came along. Gary missed a bunch of games here and there. How do you look at especially Gary and Wiggins and what they can give you going forward, given the situation that they're in?
“Yeah, I mean, I think those are the type of players you need on both ends that can defend. They can do stuff offensively, they can finish at the rim, they have the athleticism. So, we need those types of guys and we need them to bring the most out of their talent. That's really important. And I thought there were times this year where, yeah, they struggled individually. But I think it is like a two-way street where we’ve got to be better at helping them. And I think those are guys that if we talk about helping Steph and taking a load off him, those are guys moving forward that can do that offensively. And we've got to find ways to do that.”
23:44 We didn't get to talk to Steph yesterday, but what was your message to him in the end-of-season exit interview? And what did he want to get across to you?
“I don't think there was any two-way messaging. It was just a discussion dialogue of how the season went, what we need to do to get better, where he's at. Hearing from him after 83 games and being 36 years old, where he's at. And I think he's in a really good place. And I think he's a player we will continue to lean on, both of his leadership and in his play. And man, that guy's as resilient as they come. My biggest thing was, ‘I'm disappointed for you for Draymond, our veteran guys as well as our younger guys that you won't be able to play in the postseason.’ Like that's what everybody wants to see, not only here in the Bay Area, but frankly around the world, to see those guys compete at the highest level. So for them not to be able to do that, it's really disappointing. I feel for them, but it is what it is. It's our own undoing and we’ve got to live with it.”
24:44 And then in terms of you mentioned some internal options of possibly taking some burden off of him. How much of that needs to come with a scheme change rather than players developing?
“Yeah, I mean, I think that's a good question. Maybe a little bit more pointed to Steve, but I think that's something that he'll look at and be open to. I thought we did some stuff this year that changed differently from what we have done in the past to help those guys. And I think we can do more of it. But yeah, I mean, I think that's something we'll look at. And I think everything is on the table in terms of how we play, how we want to do things. When you have a couple of years, we've missed the playoffs three of the last five years, it's fair to evaluate and make changes to things.”
25:29 Actually, as a follow-up to kind of what you just said there, to just summarize the emotion in the front office right now, given what you said about the consideration of the last game and how they lost, what you've said about having the pieces here, is there an overarching emotion that something has to change in this offseason for next season or something drastic, or no?
“Yeah, I mean, I think the overarching emotion right now is disappointment. We're still sort of settling in on what happened.”
26:00 Yeah, I just wanted to get kind of more clarity on the financial aspect of the equation, because of wanting to get better, but also at this point, it sounded like you guys need to trim salary. How do you decide, ‘Well, this is worth paying this amount because we're going to be a playoff team,’ whereas you just paid 400 million not for a playoff team. Take me through the mindset with the money right now and how needed it is to trim regardless of the moves available.
“Yeah, the way we'll look at it is, seeing what we can do, what's out there, seeing what we project of the guys we have on our roster, how they can improve talking through it with Steve and what he's looking to do to change things and really getting a hard look at like, ‘Okay, this is where we can be’ And then to go to Joe with my recommendation of what the appropriate spend is on all that. That's what it's gonna come down to. And frankly, it's probably not gonna happen next week or next month. A lot of this stuff leads up to the Draft and right up to the day of free agency. So there may not be a lot of conclusions and solutions in the short term, but that's what we’ll lead up to.”
0:00 I guess get bigger question out of the way earlier. Just how do you view your future with the Warriors, heading into this offseason that feels obviously pretty unknown —?
KLAY THOMPSON EXIT INTERVIEW: “We don't want to talk about the season first? You want to talk about the future? There's a lot of games played, man. That was a pretty big accomplishment. But y'all not wanting to live in the present, bro. It's ridiculous. Anyways, what was your question?”
About the future. I mean, obviously it's a pretty major topic. I mean, you're a franchise legend here who is an unrestricted free agent and certainly at this point has an unknown future here. I mean, how confident are you that you'll be back?
“To be honest, I really haven't given it much thought because of what I previously just said about the season we had, and how much commitment it takes to play the games we did and give it our all. So I really haven't thought about that deep in the future because I still need to process the year we had and it was one filled with ups and downs, but ultimately we — I personally and our team — did everything we could to try and win as many games we possibly could, living in the present.”
1:25 What were some things going through your head last night when you're walking off the court? I know you lingered there a little bit longer than usual after the game.
“Some of the things going through my head? Hmm. Well, the first one was just disappointment because to not shoot the ball well, obviously big old donut. So that wasn't very fun. I did look up in the nosebleeds though, and I did see a man wearing a number 11 jersey that made me happy, considering my history in Sacramento from playing a state championship there to playing the Kings in the playoffs. That was kind of a full-circle moment for me. So that was actually a good moment. Just seeing that Warriors fan standing by his lonesome up in the 300 level. Repping 11. That made me grateful.”
2:29 Klay, Steph, Draymond and Steve all basically said they want you back. They want to keep this thing rolling. What does it mean to you to hear that from those guys, and you probably already knew it, but what does it mean to hear that from those guys telling the public that?
“It means a lot. I mean, we've been through the highest of highs and lows. Whether it's losing a championship, winning a championship, missing the playoffs, we've been through everything together, so that does mean a lot, and makes me grateful to have the times I've had with them, like, done some pretty historic stuff.”
3:11 How do you view the next several weeks going? And I mean, it's clear like you're not necessarily ready to think about the future at this moment, but how quickly do you think you're going to have to kind of pivot and figure that out? And what conversations do you feel like you need to have?
“Well, considering it's April 17th. I don't think I have to pivot that quickly. When's free agency? July 1st? Yeah. Got some time. Got some time.”
3:45 Klay, what do you think is the biggest lesson that you learned this past season?
“The biggest lesson that I learned? Probably I learned that you got to take — can't be a front runner. You can't shy away from the bad moments and just embrace the great ones. You’ve got to embrace them all. That's for any thing you do in life.”
4:16 Klay, that was kind of along what I was going to ask, but what kind of growth did you see in yourself this season, specifically with different roles? You had some ups and downs, and you shined and came back from some tough stretches and came off the bench and started, and you did a little bit of everything.
“Yeah, I think I learned that the best ability is availability, and I thought I did that very well this season, playing through tough times or being available almost nightly, only missing a handful of games. So, I learned that when you give yourself that shot of being out there every night, that's the best thing you can do for yourself, rather than just hanging on to those big scoring nights or whatever. It's about just competing nightly.”
5:15 Were there any breakthroughs for you emotionally, with just everything you went through and just being able to handle everything you went through?
“Yeah, I mean, I'm a strong person. You don't take a couple years off injury and come back and play that many games without being strong-willed and -minded. So that's what I did learn about myself is that it takes a lot of mental fortitude to play through injury and yeah, shooting slumps, all that. It takes a lot of willpower.”
5:59 You’ll have time to obviously think about what you want to do next, but what do you want to prioritize, for yourself, kind of moving forward? What are your priorities?
“Obviously you want to keep winning. I mean, when you've been a part of winning seasons, you don't really want to go away from that. So I would like to win again. One for the thumb would be nice. I still think it's in reach. Just gonna, yeah, take a huge effort. But other than that, just gotta think about that.”
6:37 What will really make you happy in the last few years of your career? You just talked about kind of living the moment, the best ability being availability. You played 77 games this year. What are you most proud about for this season?
“That amount of games I played and yeah, averaging, whatever, 18 points and playing 77 games. It's not my career averages, but still pretty dang good for — yeah, it's still pretty dang good.”
7:12 Klay last night, Draymond was saying that he doesn't see any scenario in which the ownership group of this team doesn't at least put forth the effort to take 10 years. Do you feel that kind of effort and love specifically in this scenario, but then also over, I mean, I guess since your entire career here, but since 2019 going through the injuries, extension after that, just that they've put in that effort to make you guys and you feel appreciated.
“Oh, man. Well, 2019. Well, could you imagine if they didn't pay me after I got hurt? That would have been really bad. Like, ‘Oh, with the five straight finals, you blew your knee out. Yeah, sorry.’ So no, I mean, that was very nice of them. I mean, I try. I mean, every year I give my best effort and ownership group has been great. I have nothing but positive things to say about them. They treat us with great respect and do all the little things for us to do our jobs at the highest level, so it's been, I mean, I don't really know how to answer that. I mean, it's up to them, but at the end of the day, whatever happens, it’s all gravy. It's been such a freaking special run.”
8:49 Klay, how much is your appreciation and love for the game grown, especially since the two injuries? Thinking about that first game, you came back here at Chase Center to where we are today.
“Yeah, it was one of the best moments of my life, to be honest. Before those injuries, I was really naive and thinking like, this is easy. Like, all I got to do is do your routine and you just go out there and hoop. And yeah, it's that easy. But playing that many years of basketball takes a toll on your body, and I think that's for any sportsman who plays a physical sport. There's going to be times where you might break, and like I said before about being a front-runner, you don't want to be a front-runner when things are great. You gotta really dig deep when you go through injuries like that. That's just a part of the beast…that you've proven you’re still a quality scorer in this league.”
9:49 Obviously teams are playing you differently. It looks like they're pressing up on you being physical. How have you had to adjust and moving forward? What do you think you need to do to kind of combat how teams are going to guard you?
“I think I just need to keep doing what I've been doing. Honestly, I think last night was just a bad shooting night. I mean, it happens. Unfortunately, it was in a one-game format, but that's the situation we were in and much different than a seven-game series. So I just thought I had an off-night from the office. Can't let that deter me from what I think of myself or what I'm capable of. I think I just need to continue to be in great shape and have fun and the rest and I'll be great.”
10:39 Klay, you've talked about gratitude for just playing basketball and obviously the connection with Draymond and Steph comes up a lot, but how much do you also sort of view that this organization, your connection with Steve, I mean, he's the only coach you've had. You talked about how the conversations with him this year that helped turn your season around, beyond just Steph and Draymond, how comfortable are you in this organization? How does that sort of shape any decision this offseason?
“Played for Mark Jackson, too. And yeah, I mean, I love everyone here from the security who does the floor at the games to the security from the Oracle days. I'm still friends with them, to the community of Oakland. I mean, yeah, I grew up in the Bay Area. Really, I've been here since I was 21. And I just always — I've loved it. E. Housen, even Ray Ridder. I've gotten to know those people on a way deeper level than just work life. So it is a really cool place to be.”
11:57 You missed obviously more than two years. And when you came back, I mean, looking back now, did you put maybe too much on yourself and maybe raise your expectations too high when you came back, given what you've gone through?
“I don't think so. So when I came back, you know, I was a second-leading scorer on a championship team. When you've experienced that, you're like, ‘I'm back.’ Then even that next year, led the league in threes, 41 percent from three, like on 300 makes, that's very hard to do. So the moments were there, but maybe my burst wasn't what it was and that happens, but at the end of the day, I still feel like I can do it at a very high level. And I did have times where I did – obviously the way it ended this year, wasn't what it was last couple of years – but I'm not gonna let one sour night or year ruin a decade plus of great work and success.”
13:07 You've mentioned a couple of times, learning about not being a front-runner. Could you elaborate on that? And is that like a personal thing? Is that a team thing? Could you just explain a little bit more?
“That's more of a personal thing. You sulk, you pout when you're not shooting up to your expected splits. And I think I did better with that this year. Just trying to exude great body language at all times and think deeper than just stats, think about your love for the game and why you do play this game. And you know, at times I have been a frontrunner in the past when things don’t go my way, I might point the finger rather than just take ownership for your situation. So that's what I've learned. And I try to pass it down to younger athletes because when you do great things over and over and you keep that high level of confidence and attitude in a great space, they'll eventually work out for you and you'll have no regrets when it's all said and done.”
14:09 Klay, you were talking just now about the appreciation for everyone in the franchise, from security to all the way to the top. I wonder, can you take me back to when you were drafted, what your thoughts were then, and what the hopes were for your NBA career, and what you've been able to do, taking us back?
“Oh, man. Uh, wow. Back in 2011, June of 2011, when I got drafted by the Dubs, that was probably the moment, at that time, best moment of my life, just because the NBA was always a dream, being able to be close to home. You know, I have family in Oregon and in Southern California, so that made it even more special. And then, yeah, all the moments that have led me here, it's been awesome, like I couldn't have ever dreamt of what we've been able to do and, well, we can still do so. We've elevated this team into a global club. And I mean, who saw that coming 20 years ago?”
15:07 Oh, hi, Klay. So do you want to say anything to the DubNation, the fans around the whole world who supported you all the time?
“That's actually a great segue from my global brand talk. Yeah, we love you guys and thank you for your unconditional support these last 10 years. It doesn't go unnoticed that there are Warrior fans across the globe from China to Tokyo to South America to Europe. I've seen Warrior fans everywhere I've went and it always makes me feel good, is what I'm trying to say.”
16:01 Two quick ones. It looks like you got kind of a fat lip. Was that from the game last night?
“Yeah. That is correct.”
You mentioned a few years left. How much are you viewing your next contract as your last one or where are you at the bigger picture future?
“Maybe. I don't know when that time comes. I mean, I'm not trying to put a expiration date on my career. That's kind of something you just go by feel.”
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