If Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry’s tears after Draymond Green’s ejection in late March were any indicator, the Steve Kerr-led team went through the wringer this season.
Between attempting to keep up in a loaded Western Conference with an older team while simultaneously dealing with a half-involved Green — who spent the better part of the season either under scrutiny or attending counseling — fighting for a spot in the Play-In Tournament was new for the Warriors.
Despite all of the distractions, however, Golden State kept itself afloat enough to face the Sacramento Kings in 9-10 matchup of the Play-In with a chance to face the Pelicans for a spot in the NBA Playoffs. But it lost. It’s season ended at the hands of the team it sent home just a year prior and it was clear that no-longer were the Warriors the team to beat in the West.
Their dynasty had all-but officially ended, with the early exit seemingly being the nail in the coffin.
So, now with an offseason to think through their roster, there seems to be one question that sits above the rest.
What happens to Klay Thompson?
At first glance, it seems that Thompson wouldn’t be welcomed back into open arms with the Warriors. His zero-point performance in the lone Play-In Tournament alluded to that, especially after he took an extra long look at the court on his way out. And the fans?
On social media, at least, weren’t kind.
Several users called for Thompson to be cut from the roster, and while their say means nothing in the eyes of Kerr or team-owner Joe Lacob, it gives a glimpse into some of the noise circulating Thompson’s name and future in Golden State.
Thompson’s teammates weighed in as well, however.
“I ultimately hope that he’s back here,” Green said of Thompson. “(I hope) that we can all close this thing out together the way we’ve done it, continue to chase after the things we know are out there for us, which is winning championships and continuing to bring more success to a franchise than anyone can imagine.”
Curry echoed what Thompson expressed, stating that a situation where he and Thompson continue to take the court together is what he “hopes for” as far as future decisions go. So, whether it be taking in the state of the team and its supporters or addressing the in-house chemistry that would be vastly altered without Thompson — or any of the Warriors’ core, for that matter — there are things to consider.
A pro of keeping Thompson is that, despite the woes he faced in his final game this season, he was a reliable scorer. He played 77 games in his third season since coming back from his massive, multi-season Achilles injury and proved to be able to stay healthy. On top of that, he averaged 17.9 points on just under 40 percent 3-point shooting to keep his name atop the stat sheets on plenty of Warriors wins.
The con is, of course, that with Thompson’s age comes an increasing probability of him missing games, or in his case, shots. He clearly isn’t the same player he once was alongside Curry and Green. Missing every shot in a win-or-go-home game isn’t his M.O.
But this season, it was. And unfortunately for him, he only had one game to score instead of a series.
If Thompson is to be done with the Warriors, then his last game in his familiar threads will have been an abysmal performance when it mattered most. Again — things to think about.
The Warriors are obviously disappointed in the way their season ended. They undoubtedly would have loved to have a shot at one of the West’s top seeds and make some noise, but in what’s becoming an increasingly clear changing of the tide — Kevin Durant, LeBron James and the “Splash Brothers” are all either winless in their playoff series’ or at home — that will only get harder with time.
If Thompson is the long-term answer, and Golden State does in fact decide to keep the band together with a hopefully more-involved Green, a clutch Thompson and an evergreen Curry, then it’ll have other needs to address: size and youth.
But before it can even begin to look at fixing a supporting cast around its core, it’ll have to decide who in the core is staying, and who is going. And Thompson is the first one on that list.
He’s Golden State’s biggest offseason question mark.
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