Warriors Named Top Landing Spot for $146 Million Klay Thompson Replacement

“The Warriors could have a need for help on the wing if they lose Klay Thompson in free agency. There are rumblings they could try to make a push for Paul George if he opts in to his $48.8 million salary for next season to facilitate a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers,” Wells wrote. “If that pursuit doesn’t pan out, Butler would be a nice fallback option for a Golden State team that needs to take a big swing if it wants another shot at competing for a title while Stephen Curry is still in his prime.”

New Developments Make Heat More Likely to Trade Jimmy Butler This Offseason

Butler won’t seek an extension from the Miami Heat this summer, per Shams Charania of The Athletic, despite reports that he’d spent weeks pursuing a two-year, $113 million agreement from that organization to guarantee him huge money into his late 30s.

What that means is the two-time NBA Finals participant (2020, 2023) can, and almost certainly will, opt out of the final year of his $146.4 million agreement next summer and look for the greenest pastures he can find, financially speaking, in free agency.

Heat team president Pat Riley has said the Heat have no interest in dealing Butler, soon to be 35 years old, this summer or ahead of the trade deadline next season. However, Riley has also not shied away from the fact that one of the reasons he refuses to extend his star player is the number of games Butler has missed due to injury. He’s appeared in more than 60 regular-season contests for the Heat just once in five years.

That said, Miami has not remained competitive over the last 30 years by letting assets with massive value (Butler) to semi-desperate teams (the Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers) leave in free agency for nothing in return, which is exactly what will happen if the Heat let Butler play out this season without a trade or an extension agreement in place.

As such, it more than strains credulity when Riley and Butler act and speak as though Miami will simply run it back in 2024-25 with its current roster configuration and then figure things out later.

Warriors Can’t Pay Klay Thompson Huge Money and Still Compete for Western Conference Crown

Thompson is on the verge of hitting unrestricted free agency, and while some like Yaron Weitzman of Fox Sports believe he is in line for a three-year extension worth $100 million from Golden State, others are paying closer attention to the writing that’s been on the wall for approximately a full year now.

The Warriors offered Thompson two years and $48 million before last season, which he declined. He played solidly in 2023-24 and better toward the end of the campaign, averaging 17.9 points per game and shooting $38.7% from the field, but those aren’t $33 million per year kind of numbers.

That said, Thompson does offer teams like the 76ers and the Orlando Magic — the latter of which has shown considerable interest in his services — enough scoring and shooting to space the floor and help pace their offenses. The Dubs may bring Thompson back out of a sense of loyalty or if he’s willing to take a discount. But if they pay him to the degree Weitzman suggested, winning the Western Conference again is likely to remain the forlorn hope that it’s been these past two seasons.

Meanwhile, the Warriors have a $30 million expiring contract for Chris Paul they could use as the basis for a trade for someone like Butler. The team has at least four quality young players and wouldn’t have to include all of them in a package to the Heat to get Butler into the Bay Area.

The wind in Golden State has long been blowing toward one last push for a fifth title while Curry remains a top 10 NBA player, and a trade this summer for someone like Butler may be the Warriors’ last window to make that happen.