Golden State Warriors: Extending Klay Thompson The Right Thing
By Marcus Bass
From almost traded to a max contract. That’s just how the NBA works.
The Golden State Warriors did the right thing and arrived at an agreement to extend shooting guard Klay Thompson‘s contract, the team announced on Friday. ESPN was first to report the deal, which is set for four years at the maximum contract amount projected to be worth close to $70 million.
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Specifics of the actual size of Thompson’s contract won’t be revealed until the NBA sets and announces the 2015-16 salary cap.
Bob Myers understood how important Thompson is to the Warriors’ future. He previously explained his interest in keeping Thompson around to Diamond Leung of the San Jose Mercury News. Myers commented,
"“We value him in the highest way, and we want to keep him on this team for a long time. He’s just laser-focused. When you watch him play defense, when you watch him shoot, I’m not sure much knocks him off his center, and that’s a tribute to his intensity and competitiveness. Certain people are built that way where you just point them in the direction, and they go. So I don’t particularly worry about his mind-set approaching the season.”"
While there were rumors that Thompson’s camp wasn’t happy with how contract negotiations were going, it’s in the best interest of the Warriors and Thompson that this deal got done. Thompson scored 18.4 points per game in the previous season while shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 41.7 from 3.
Perhaps a justification for his max deal, Thompson’s averages from last season are slightly improved from his career averages of 43.5 percent in field goals shooting and 41 percent from deep.
A max contract can have one of two affects on a receiving player. Once that influx of cash kicks in, he’ll either be complacent or confident. After his experience with Team USA, Thompson has returned to the Warriors with a greater sense of ownership on the wing, and a thirst for forcing all to respect his game.
Given Thompson’s work ethic and interest in continuously learning his position, to say that his confidence will fly through the roof is a pretty safe bet.
Kudos to the Warriors organization in this no-brainer situation. Thompson is an undervalued talent in this league who’s on the verge of a big year. He’s a top three player at his position and isn’t can’t be easily replaced by the Warriors.
In a time where teams are increasingly playing hardball with players and trying to save every last penny, the Warriors did the right thing and showed Thompson the amount of commitment he’s dedicated in showing them. It was a simple decision, and when the issue of moving your franchise forward is on the table it’s best to be as decisive as possible.
Securing Thompson for the long run was another step in the Warriors’ quest to not only sit on top of the Western Conference, but the entire league.