Some think that Klay Thompson leaving the Warriors is a sure thing this summer, but ESPN insider Brian Windhorst doesn’t quite agree.
Windhorst has downplayed the concern about the four-time Warriors champion’s future with the Dubs, as he gets set to enter unrestricted free agency.
“They tried to get something done before last season, they couldn’t agree and then Klay went out and didn’t have a very good year,” Windhorst said on The Pat McAfee Show. “He had a good year by your average NBA player standard, he averaged 18 points and shot 39 percent on 3s. That type of production would probably get you $20-to-25 million.
“Klay was making over $40 million last year, so they want him to come down and wherever that number is they want him to come to – and the years, it’s not just the amount of money per year, it’s also the number of years – he saw Draymond [Green] and Andrew Wiggins get four. I don’t know exactly where these negotiations are, but if I were him I would ask for four too … I find it hard to believe that Klay would walk and go to a place like the Orlando Magic. But I guess it’s possible.”
Windhorst also spoke about how Klay unfollowed the Warriors on Instagram, and thinks it doesn’t mean it’s all over for Klay at Golden State.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, this could still end up being a happy story,” Windhorst said. “But I would say, remember last year, Klay was getting benched at the end of games. He lost his starting job at some point. So part of this may be, and again I do not know exactly the status of negotiations, but part of this may be what’s the role going to be? I want to get starter money and I want to be a starter. Something like that.
“It’s definitely a signal to the rest of the world he knew exactly what he was doing that things are not going well and if I was interested in signing Klay, which there are definitely teams that want to do that, I would have seen that as a green light. When June 30 gets here, that is when you’re allowed to start talking to him, they can still come to terms between now and June 30 …”