The Golden State Warriors had high hopes of being a title-contending team in the Western Conference coming into the 2023-24 NBA regular season with veteran point guard Chris Paul added to the backcourt.
Unfortunately, things haven’t gone as planned for the Warriors this season, with Paul dealing with injury issues once again and Klay Thompson looking like his best days are behind him while Andrew Wiggins also has struggled to get back to form.
On Saturday night, the Warriors gave the Atlanta Hawks all they could handle at State Farm Arena, with Stephen Curry and company taking Trae Young’s squad into overtime.
Unfortunately, even though Curry dropped a season-high 60 points, the Hawks prevailed in overtime, which shed a lot of light on the Warriors’ roster with the NBA trade deadline a few days away.
With the trade deadline looming and rumors circulating that the team might be willing to trade Thompson, Kendrick Perkins of ESPN took to Twitter and said he believes a “change of scenery” is needed for the sharpshooter.
“I’m watching Hawks vs Warriors and don’t understand why Golden State is prolonging this relationship with Klay. Stop the bleeding! I still believe that Klay can be the Klay of old…he just need a change of scenery,” Perkins tweeted.
I’m watching Hawks vs Warriors and don’t understand why Golden State is prolonging this relationship with Klay. Stop the bleeding! I still believe that Klay can be the Klay of old… he just need a change of scenery
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) February 4, 2024
In 44 games played for the Warriors this season, Thompson is averaging 17.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game, shooting 41.5% from the floor and 37.4% from beyond the arc.
Although these aren’t awful numbers, Thompson clearly isn’t the same player and a change of scenery might be exactly what is needed for him to return to form as one of the best shooting guards in the game who could dominate on both sides of the basketball floor.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Warriors decide to do and whether Thompson’s days are numbered in San Francisco.
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