All good things must come to an end, and a new report seems to open the door to the Golden State Warriors “Big 3” era coming to an end in the new 2023-2024 NBA season.
The last decade has been a legendary time in the history of the Golden State Warriors organization. Since the 2012-2013 season, the team has been a consistent playoff contender and often a serious threat to reach the NBA Finals. Which they have done on six occasions and took home the league title in four of those years.
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Golden State is the league’s current dynasty squad and should be in the thick of the playoff chase in the upcoming season. However, all good things must come to an end and realistically keeping the legendary trio of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson together to the end of their careers was always going to be tough. And now a new report suggests that the latter team great could be the odd man out after this season.
- Klay Thompson stats (’22-’23): 21.9 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 2.4 APG, 0.7 SPG, 41% 3PT
Klay Thompson may not be in Golden State Warriors long-term plans
On Monday, The Athletic’s Anthony Slater gave an interesting update on contract talks between the organization and the five-time All-Star, and why he may not fit into their long-term salary plans.
“No official offers or counteroffers have been made from either side, according to league sources who were granted anonymity so that they could speak freely. No exact salary numbers have been floated. There isn’t a rush from either side, and there isn’t a deadline.
“… The introduction of the second apron has made everything a little trickier. Beginning the following summer, if the Warriors are still into that second level of the tax bracket (where they currently live), they’ll be hit with a handful more punitive penalties, which include the loss of the mini-midlevel exception, an inability to add buyout players in-season and frozen draft picks.
“That’s been viewed as a no-go for the Warriors internally. They’re remodeling their roster with the intention of ducking the second apron next summer and maintaining flexibility.”
– Anthony Slater
While Slater did mention with some confidence a new deal could be worked out before the start of the season, there is no denying Thompson is no longer, and never again will be, the player he was before losing two seasons to ACL and Achilles injuries.
While his numbers are similar to his peak seasons, he is not the defensive ace he used to be and his field goal and three-point percentages are down significantly in the last two years. Thompson is set to make $43 million in the final year of his contract this season. There is a chance he could take a team-friendly deal for long-term security like Green did over the summer.
The Golden State Warriors have Curry and Green locked into multi-year contracts for the next few seasons. They have paid over $700 million over the last two seasons on their roster due to massive salary tax charges during that time.