The Golden State Warriors are trying to do what they feel they need to do in order to extend their championship window.
After winning it all in June 2022, their title defense devolved into an enigmatic and inconsistent 2022-23 season that culminated with an exit in the second round of the playoffs against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.
One item on their docket is a potential contract extension for Klay Thompson, who is part of the famed core that brought them four NBA championships over the last nine seasons.
Per Basketball on X, Ramona Shelburne in an appearance on The Lowe Post podcast, says that while both sides have started talking, there’s no urgency to get a deal done.
#REPORT Klay Thompson, Warriors Have Opened Extension Talks
“They've exchanged proposals. There's no hurry to these discussions. The optionality goes both ways. Not necessarily he's trying to leave, but just the optionality that he didn't have a great year last year. It behooves… pic.twitter.com/B7n6pjX3r9
— BASKETBALL ON 𝕏 (@BasketballOnX) September 15, 2023
Thompson is perhaps not quite the player he used to be ever since he tore his ACL in 2019 and then tore his Achilles just prior to the 2020-21 season.
He returned for the 2021-22 campaign, and while he struggled early, he started to show bursts of his old self in the spring while helping Golden State go all the way.
Last season, he put up 21.9 points a game while shooting 43.6 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from 3-point range and appearing in 69 games.
He got hot offensively starting in January, but he may not be the standout defender he was prior to his ACL injury.
The Warriors have gotten older lately, especially after they traded Jordan Poole for 38-year-old Chris Paul, and thus their championship window may be closing faster than they think it is.
But if the 33-year-old Thompson plays well for a few more years, perhaps they can squeeze one more ring out of him, Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green.
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