“We desperately want Klay back” -Steve Kerr

The Golden State Warriors’ season has come to an end after a tough loss to the Sacramento Kings in the Play-In Tournament. During the 118-94 defeat, Klay Thompson, possibly playing his last Game with the Warriors, had a decently bad night. He was held scoreless on 0-of-10 shooting and 0-of-6 from the three. It was an especially tough Game for Thompson considering he was just coming off the best scoring on the team over the last four and a half weeks. Despite one bad Game though, Thompson has been a crucial piece in the Warriors’ four championships during their dynasty run.

Throughout the Game, however, Thompson struggled to keep his mind off of his impending free agency. He did not speak after the Game. The Warriors will now face the difficult decision to re-sign him or not. Stephen Curry and coach Steve Kerr both expressed their desire to keep Thompson on the team, but acknowledged that the Business aspect of it all might not be so simple.

“We need Klay back,” said Kerr after the Game. “He’s still got good years left. And I know I speak for everybody in the organization... We want him back. What Klay has meant to this franchise and as good as he still is, we desperately want him back.”

The Warriors will have to be careful how they spend as owner Joe Lacob has said he wants to get out of the luxury tax this summer. Thompson himself expressed his desire to stay with the Warriors, and his look of disappointment as his eyes darted around the court at the end of the Game made it clear he felt some sense of sadness at the possibility of that being his last Game with the team. Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic is expected to offer Thompson “a ton of money”.

The Warriors have secured Curry, Draymond Green, and Andrew Wiggins until the 2025-26 season, with Green and Wiggins on a player option for the 2026-27 season. They’ll then need to think about what to do about Chris Paul’s and Kevon Looney’s non-guaranteed contract deals, on top of Thompson’s situation.