Lacob Anticipates Thompson Staying With Warriors Through Upcoming Season
The team has dismissed Jordan Poole. Chris Paul has joined. Draymond Green is a permanent fixture. What comes next?
This summer’s offseason for the Warriors has been hectic as they strive to put the pieces back together and return to NBA title contention.
Even though Klay Thompson is entering the final year of a five-year, $190 million Warriors contract, it is still too soon to say whether he will stay in the Bay. There are many issues to be resolved, but Warriors owner Joe Lacob clarified the team’s situation going into the upcoming season.
When asked if he anticipates Thompson returning to the Warriors beyond the 2023–24 season, Lacob responded to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic on “The TK Show.”
“I do.” “Look, we’ve had some very brief discussions at this point with his agent, but they’re very, very early. I think we’re all still adjusting to figuring out what our financial situation is—our cap space situation.”
“They’re going to, from the players’ side, logically have to attest to what the free agent market might be because they’ve earned the right to be free agents if they’ve played out their contracts. And they have to look and see what options they might have. So I think there’s a little bit of that going on at this point, but I fully expect we will have some substantial discussions soon. And we’ll see if we can put something together that allows Klay to be here for a long time, which we clearly would like him to be.”
The futures of Warriors coach Steve Kerr and forward Klay Thompson are in doubt, even though Green’s four-year, $100 million contract extension this summer indicates that Golden State still has faith in its championship-winning core.
The Warriors’ general manager, Mike Dunleavy Jr., spoke last month about his goals for Thompson and Kerr, two players who have been crucial to their past and perhaps future success.
On “Dubs Talk,” Dunleavy stated,
“Those are guys we definitely want to get locked up.”
“They’ve been a big part of what we’ve done here. They can still contribute, especially Klay on the court. And Steve is one of the best, if not the best, coach in the league.”
Even though the Warriors have some time to work things out, reaching a compromise before training camp starts on Oct. 2 might save a lot of strife during the season—something they fought through all last season.
The idea is to retain Thompson in the Bay with the teammates he joined the league with, but as Lacob acknowledged, Thompson may test the free agency waters before making a decision, just like Green did a few months ago.
