Some think that Klay Thompson leaving the Warriors is a sure thing this summer, but ESPN insider Brian Windhorst strongly disagrees.
Windhorst dismissed concerns about the future of the four-time Warriors champion with the Dubs, as he is set to enter unrestricted free agency.
“They tried to do something before last season, they didn't agree and then Klay came out and he didn't have a very good year,” said Windhorst. The Pat McAfee Show. “He had a good year by your average NBA player, scoring 18 points and shooting 39 percent from 3s. That kind of production would probably get you $20-to-25 million.
“Klay was earning more than $40 million last year, so they want him to go down and wherever that number is they want him to go – and years, it's not just the amount of money per year, but the number of years – Draymond saw [Green] and Andrew Wiggins got four. I don't know exactly where these talks are, but if I were him I would ask for four more… I find it hard to believe that Klay would leave for a place like the Orlando Magic. But I think it's possible.”
Windhorst also talked about how Klay unfollowed the Warriors on Instagram, and thinks it doesn't mean it's over for Klay in Golden State.
“Let's not get ahead of ourselves, this could end up being a happy story,” said Windhorst. “But I can say, remember last year, Klay was sitting on the bench at the end of the games. He lost his first job at one point. So part of this may be, and I don't know exactly the status of the negotiations, but part of this may be what is the role going to be? I want to get start money and I want to be a beginner. Something like that.
“It is certainly a sign to the whole world that he knew what he was doing that things were not going well and if I had the desire to sign Klay, which is exactly what teams want to do, I would have seen that green light. When June 30 gets here, that's when you're allowed to start talking to him, they can still agree between now and June 30…”
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