After Getting Benched Against The Suns, It's Starting To Feel Like The Beginning Of The End For The Klay Thompson Era In Golden State

Thearon W. Henderson. Getty Images.

As a team, things have not been all that great for the Golden State Warriors through the first quarter of their season. At 10-13, they currently sit in the 11th spot out West, are under .500 both at home (5-6) and on the road (5-7), own the 16th best offense in the league paired with 16th ranked defense, and Draymond Green can't stop getting suspended and Andrew Wiggins might have lost all of his basketball playing abilities. Even with Curry having another elite season, it doesn't really matter when everything else around him is off to a disastrous start.

Then of course there's the Klay Thompson dilemma. You may remember a few weeks ago when Klay got super defensive about the idea that he should be benched given the fact that he's been a shell of himself so far this season

Since that rant, things haven't gotten much better for Klay. He's shooting just 37/30% in the 7 games since (3-4), and last night Steve Kerr had finally seen enough and actually benched Klay for the entire 4th quarter last night against the Suns (another loss). 

But the most seismic rotation choice from Kerr on Tuesday night in Phoenix was a late-game benching of Klay Thompson. Thompson missed eight of his 10 shots and seven of his eight 3s while Chris Paul (15 points, 11 assists) and Moses Moody (12 points, four rebounds) emerged as more productive backcourt options. Kerr closed with Curry, Paul, Podziemski, Kuminga and Dario Šarić.

“I just felt like tonight I had to play the guys who were playing the best,” Kerr said. “I’ve been really patient in trying to get everyone organized, give guys freedom and space. But tonight did not feel like a night to have a lot of patience.” As Green later pointed out, this is the first time Thompson has been forced to make this type of sacrifice. When healthy over all these dynasty years, Thompson has always started and closed. This was the first time he’s been planted on the bench in crunch time. 

Thompson didn’t love it. He circled during the timeout in frustration after learning of the decision, yelled toward the huddle a few times and smacked what seemed to be a cup rack to the ground behind the bench. Curry came over to calm him at one point during the timeout. Thompson stewed for much of the fourth quarter

To his credit, Klay owned up to it after the game, admitting that he deserved to be benched given he was playing like ass. The thing is, this feels more than just a one time thing that was simply due to the flow of that specific game. It feels like the beginning of the end.

When this issue and Klay's poor play came up a few weeks ago, there were rumblings that his contract situation was one of the main contributing factors. That because Klay didn't get an extension, it was messing everything up. As it turns out, maybe there's actually something to that based on what Shams is now reporting

The Warriors are now facing a decision that certainly isn't easy. If there is no extension on the table anymore, that tells us the Warriors do not want to be in the Klay Thompson business after this season. If that's the case, they have to trade him by February. As a player with an expiring $43M deal, the Warriors will not have the money to replace him in the open market next summer. Add in the new rules around the 2nd apron for tax teams, and things become even more difficult. 

GS isn't alone in this. This is the new reality for any team that has an expiring player who they have no interest in keeping. You have to get ahead of it and trade that player for whatever you can get back. Even if it's 60 cents on the dollar, at least you don't lose that asset for nothing. When you're a luxury tax team, it's even more important.

Given that Christmas will be here before we know it, it's not like the Warriors have a ton of time to figure out their next move. The tough part is, what are they getting for this version of Klay Thompson on the trade market with a $43M salary? That's not exactly the easiest piece to move, especially if his play is going to be at this level. Just 39/34% on the season, are there even teams out there that are going to be willing to give up the assets it's going to take in order to bring Klay in? You don't just need the contracts to make the money work, I imagine the Warriors are going to want at least a 1st round pick as well. That team also has to be willing to keep Klay after this season and be confident that he'll even want to stick around. Again, he's a rental at this point if he enters the trade market. That's another element that makes this whole thing tricky.

Who knows, maybe the Warriors hold off, Klay turns things around and then they come to an agreement at the end of the year on a more team friendly extension. Maybe that 2/$48M or something close to it gets put back on the table and everyone's happy. But given what we've seen, it looks like this level might be where Klay is now as a player, and the Warriors might decide now is the time to get whatever they can for a player they don't see getting better anytime soon.

The ending of a dynasty run is never easy or without drama, and it was bound to happen to GS eventually. The issue is they did just give Draymond his own 4/100M extension that still has 2+1 after this season, and that doesn't look to be worth it either. If this truly is the end for Klay in GS, he certainly had one hell of a run. 

But once the extension gets taken off the table and now we have him getting benched down the stretch of games, it does feel like it's just a matter of time before we get the Woj/Shams bomb that Klay has been traded somewhere. Where that is, is anyone's guess.