223 million in 4 years, Warriors X factor, is Thompson worth it?
Something goes about it, recently, well-known salary expert Bobby Marks talked about the Warriors on ESPN and looked forward to Thompson's future.
Bobby Marks said: "With the current Warriors roster, Klay Thompson is definitely an X-factor, and his contract will definitely play a role. He is now eligible to sign a 4-year 223 million maximum salary early renewal contract, but will he get such a maximum salary contract? No, it won't. ”
"You can see that Chase Dream has a new contract, Curry's contract has 3 years left, will Thompson sign a 3-year contract of about 100 million? He played 69 games last season, averaging 22 points per game and shooting 60 percent from the field on layups and dunks, and he really impressed me. ”
Thompson signed a 5-year 190 million maximum salary contract with the Warriors in 2019, and next season this contract will enter its final year, with an annual salary of 43.21 million, according to the new version of the collective agreement, Thompson can extend his contract with the Warriors early this summer, up to 4 years 223 million, of which in the 2027-28 season, the 38-year-old Thompson will receive an annual salary of more than 60 million.
If it is Thompson at his peak, I believe that the Warriors will not hesitate to give a contract, but the current Thompson, to be honest, is estimated to be very difficult.
Last season, Thompson played in 69 games for the Warriors, averaging 21.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 33 minutes per game, shooting 43.6%/41.2%/87.9% from three-field range and 57.6% from true range.
It was Thompson's highest individual scoring year since 2017, and he was particularly crazy on three-pointers, averaging a career-high 10.6 shots per game while averaging 4.4 shots per game and accumulating 301 three-pointers the most in the league.
In many games, Thompson has delivered performances that do not lose to the peak, such as against the Hawks, he shot 21 of 39 and 10 of 21 from three-point range, scoring 54 points; In addition, against the Thunder and Rockets, Thompson scored 42 points twice (12-of-16 from three-point range and 12-of-17 from three-point range); Also playing against the Rockets at the start of the season, Thompson also scored 41 points (10-of-13 from three-point range).
What is the concept? Thompson has only made 10+ three-pointers in a single game four times in his previous seven seasons, but he did so four times last season alone.
You can see that Thompson's shooting ability is still at the top of the league, but, after all, after experiencing Achilles tendon injuries and cruciate ligament injuries, Thompson's defensive ability has declined a lot, and the statistics can prove this: last season, Thompson averaged 9.9 shots per game to interfere with opponents, and the opponent's shooting percentage increased by 0.6%, including a 1.1% increase in three-point shooting.
By contrast, the 2018-19 season, the season before Thompson's injury, averaged 11.1 shots per game during the regular season, dropping 2.6 percent from the field.
In addition, Thompson seems to have lost his "playoff magic", after helping the Warriors win the championship in the 2022 playoffs, but the decline on the defensive end has been very obvious, and the efficiency is not as good as that year.
In this year's playoffs, Thompson's performance was not satisfactory, averaging 18.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, shooting 38.8% from the field, 36.8% from three-point range, and only 52.5% from the field.
In the second round of the series against the Lakers, Warriors fans repeatedly hoped that Thompson could step up and help the team, but he only scored 9 points (3 of 11), 10 points (3 of 12), and 8 points (3 of 19) in the last three games, failing to show the magic of G6 soup again.
Thompson at his peak will also remember him as the best 3D player in the league and even in history, when he was named to the All-Star and All-Star team, and today's annual salary of 50 million is certainly not too much.
But, as Bobby Marks said, Thompson is really not worth such a big contract, especially considering that Thompson is 33 years old, and his shooting may still be in the future, but the defense is likely to decline further.
Judging from the attitude of the Warriors offseason, it seems that they will not be too willing to offer Thompson a top salary, and a reporter has previously said that the Warriors are expected to solve Thompson's free market problems in the same way they treat Green next summer, and the Warriors want Thompson to spend the rest of his career with the Warriors, but also hope to cut costs, in other words, hope that Thompson will cut his salary.
It needs to be said that Curry has expressed more than once that he hopes that all three of Kuchai can retire in the Warriors, so the Warriors should be unlikely to trade or let Thompson leave, but his contract is indeed an X factor, 3 years 100 million? 120 million in 4 years? 150 million in 4 years? How much do you think Thompson's next contract should be appropriate?