Klay Thompson and the Warriors appear to be heading for a divorce.
The four-time NBA champion, who played his entire 13-year career with Golden State, appears set to become a free agent after long-term contract negotiations stalled and the Warriors showed little urgency, The Athletic reported. report Friday.
“There’s been no notable movement from either side,” a league source told the outlet.
The Warriors reportedly want to bring back Thompson as one of the Splash Brothers alongside superstar Stephen Curry, but only for the right price and after addressing other parts of their roster restructuring.
Thompson, 34, will be available on the open market when he becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of June.
NBA teams can begin negotiating with their free agents the day after the final game of the 2024 NBA Finals, which will feature the Mavericks and Celtics, with Game 1 set to begin on June 6 in Boston.
NBA teams can officially sign players beginning on July 6th at 12:01pm ET.
After more than a decade together, Thompson and the Warriors find themselves at a crossroads.
The team will soon be forced to decide whether to keep the core members of their dynasty — Thompson, Curry and Draymond Green — or part ways with the trio that led them to four championships in eight years.
Thompson was held scoreless in the Warriors’ season-ending loss to the Kings in the play-in tournament.
After the game, when reporters asked him about his future with Golden State, he called it “silly” because he had “time” to address it.
Instead, he wanted to talk about last season, when he played 77 games, his most since the 2018-19 season before tearing his ACL and Achilles tendon.
Thompson averaged 17.9 points per game and shot 38.7 percent from three-point range during the regular season.
“I played a lot of games and that’s a pretty big achievement. Why wouldn’t you want to live in the moment? That’s ridiculous,” he said at the time.
Naturally, these injuries have affected Thompson’s play and his performance at this stage of his career.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr explained after the season that the Warriors wanted Thompson to stay with the team.
“We need Clay back…” Carr says“I speak for the whole organization in that we want him back. Obviously, there’s a lot of work to do and we need to negotiate with Klay’s agent… he’s still great, but we’re anxious to have him back.”
He added: “He still has some good years left.”
Green also spoke about Thompson’s loyalty to the Warriors, saying, “There’s no reason to think they wouldn’t do the right thing with Klay.”
At the time, ESPN reported that Thompson wanted a new contract that would match those of Curry and Green.
Curry and Green are under contract with the Warriors through the 2025-26 season. Green has a player option for the 2026-27 season.
Thompson praised Warriors ownership following the 2023-24 season.
He has yet to speak about his future with the team since the loss.
Thompson has spent the last month traveling and de-stressing after an early offseason trip.
He was spotted attending the Sparks vs. Fever game at the Crypto.com Arena last week.
