The end of an era has officially arrived for the Golden State Warriors.
It left the Bay Area on Monday, July 1, alongside long-time Dubs shooting guard Klay Thompson who will join the Dallas Mavericks on a three-year deal worth $50 million. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN broke the news Monday afternoon via X.
“BREAKING: Free agent Klay Thompson plans to join Dallas Mavericks on a three-year, $50M deal with a player option, sources tell ESPN,” Wojnarowski wrote. “Thompson ends his historic Warriors run as part of a multi-team sign-and-trade that’ll also send Josh Green to Charlotte.”
What Golden State is getting back in return for Thompson as part of the sign-and-trade wasn’t immediately clear. To that end, Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report offered a report that conflicted somewhat with Wojnarowski’s at roughly the same time the news broke.
“Golden State is still working through details with Dallas and I’m told ‘a deal is not close’ at this point,” Haynes posted to X.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports also added some insight into the process behind the deal and what the involved parties had yet to accomplish as of approximately 2:45 p.m. ET.
“The sign-and-trade framework that will ultimately send Klay Thompson to Dallas has a completed concept that would send Josh Green to Charlotte, sources said, but what goes back to the Warriors has not yet been finalized,” Fischer reported via X. “Three years, $50 million was most Mavericks could offer.”
Klay Thompson Part of Historic NBA Dynasty With Warriors, Historic Duo With Stephen Curry
GettyStephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and former teammate Klay Thompson.
Assuming that the Dubs, Mavs and Thompson can sort out all of the details, Thompson will end an incredible run in Golden State on something of a sad and sour note.
A five-time All-Star, Thompson was part of arguably the best backcourt in history playing alongside two-time MVP Stephen Curry. The two led the franchise to five straight NBA Finals berths, and six overall, including four titles.
At the peak of his powers, Thompson averaged north of 22 points per game and upwards of 44% shooting from behind the 3-point line. He finished last season with an average of 17.9 points per outing after connecting on 38.7% of his 3-point attempts across 9.0 tries per game, according to Basketball Reference.
Klay Thompson Struggled in Final Years With Warriors, Took Less Money Annually to Join Mavericks
GettyKlay Thompson, formerly of the Golden State Warriors.
Despite his continued excellence as a shooter and offensive floor spacer, the bottom of Thompson’s status as one of the league’s top two-way defenders fell out following two and a half years on the sideline due to back-to-back ACL and Achilles injuries.
Thompson missed the entirety of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns due to those health issues, returning approximately halfway through the 2021-22 season — just in time to contribute meaningfully as a starter to the Dubs’ most recent run to an NBA championship.
However, external opinions of analysts and insiders appeared to nag at Thompson over the past two years, as he openly spoke about the difficulties he had accepting criticisms and physical limitations via age and injury that had been unfamiliar to him up to those points in his career. He also talked honestly with media members about the difficulty of the Warriors coaching staff relegating him to the bench for a stretch of 14 games last season in favor of rookie Brandin Podziemski.
Thompson’s decision to accept the Mavs’ deal shows how ready he is for a fresh start, especially considering he turned down a two-year contract worth $48 million from Golden State ahead of last season.
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