Trust or Trade: Predicting the fates of 5 at-risk Golden State Warriors
By Cal Durrett
Trust: Klay Thompson
Long-time warrior star Klay Thompson has had an uneven 2023–2024 season thus far. Although Thompson isn't having nearly the season we have come to expect from the future Hall of Famer, it seems unlikely that he will be traded before the deadline. Instead, he will have a chance to play the season out and for the Warriors to assess his value going forward.
Golden State opted to lowball him on a contract extension this past summer, which proved to be the right decision, meaning that he will hit unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career. As a result, there is a chance that he goes elsewhere this summer.
That would hurt Golden State but given his diminishing value, re-signing him to an exorbitant contract wouldn't make sense, and it doesn't make sense to trade him either. Especially because of all he's meant to the franchise, plus it's unclear what he would even fetch were he on the trading block. Therefore, letting Thompson play out the season seems like the most reasonable conclusion.