NBA executives are supposedly wondering if there’s a world where the Golden State Warriors — who own a 9-10 record on the season — would trade Klay Thompson.
“I’ve had four executives from other teams in the last 72 hours ask me, just in spitball and stuff, ‘Would they ever trade Klay Thompson?'” NBA insider Zach Lowe said. “And the reason they’re asking is because teams see somewhat of an opportunity there in terms of, ‘Can we get involved in a deal? Would they have to attach an asset to trade Klay Thompson if they want to get meaningful win-now talent with multiple years left on their contract in exchange for Klay Thompson?'”
Lowe did add that he would “bet heavily” against the Warriors ever dealing Thompson, noting that Golden State doesn’t want to ship him away.
“To be clear, the Warriors do not want to trade Klay Thompson,” he said. “They have no desire to do it. I would bet heavily against it ever happening.”
The 33-year-old has had a rough start to the 2023-24 regular season from a scoring standpoint. He is averaging 15.7 points per game — his lowest average since his rookie season, the 2011-12 season — while shooting just 40.7 percent from the field and 36.0 percent from behind the 3-point arc.
Thompson’s struggles shooting the ball are part of why the Warriors are below .500 over a month into the season. The Warriors own the 10th-best record in the Western Conference right now, meaning if the season ended today, Golden State would be in the play-in tournament.
The Warriors are fresh off an impressive win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 30, however. Thompson had one of his better individual performances of the season, as he scored 22 points while shooting 8-of-18 from the field. Plus, he chipped in with six rebounds, two assists and one block in a game the Warriors went on to win by six points.
But point guard Stephen Curry — who is averaging a team-high 29.5 points per game — ended up leading the Warriors in scoring. He dropped 26 points while shooting 8-of-15 from the field and 3-of-9 from 3-point range.
Thompson and the Warriors will take on Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and the Clippers for a second game in a row on Saturday. After playing the Clippers, Golden State will then host the Portland Trail Blazers on Dec. 6.
It makes sense as to why the Warriors are seemingly not looking to Thompson. After all, he’s helped the organization win four NBA titles. Plus, the 2023-24 regular season is less than a quarter of the way through, so Thompson still has plenty of time to rectify his slow start to the season.
