Klay Thompson’s departure from the Warriors came with an attempt to repair a long-broken marriage.
On both sides, but to varying degrees.
Six weeks before Thompson signed a three-year, $50 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, he accepted Warriors owner Joe Lacob’s offer to play a round of golf at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Kendra Andrews reported in a backstory on Wednesday.
According to Shelburne and Andrews, Thompson and Lacob did not discuss contract details or team matters during their round of golf in mid-May, despite Thompson reportedly feeling disrespected by the negotiations over the past year.
In the weeks that followed, Thompson’s agent, Greg Lawrence of Wasserman Media Group, made the Warriors multiple contract offers, Shelburne and Andrews said, citing sources.
“By the time this offseason rolled around, Thompson’s representatives had proposed at least four contracts to the team,” Shelburne and Andrews wrote. “Each time, throughout the season, the Warriors’ response was to tell Thompson and his camp to wait while the franchise attempted to improve the team in other deals. Most notable, sources said, were attempts to trade for Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, Brooklyn Nets swingman Mikal Bridges, LA Clippers star Paul George and Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen.”
Shelburne and Andrews also reported, citing sources, that Thompson’s camp made the Warriors one final offer: a modest two-year contract worth around $20 million per season. Golden State also communicated its desire to use Thompson in a non-starting role, which Thompson was “not happy” about, according to ESPN, but ultimately did not view the request as a deal-breaker.
The final offer to the Warriors was approximately $4 million more per year than Thompson’s reported deal with the Mavericks and $2 million per year less than Golden State’s reported offer to Thompson before the start of the 2023-24 NBA season.
According to ESPN, Golden State’s response to the offer was the same as it had been nearly a year ago: “We just can’t do that yet.“
Then, in the final week before free agency, Thompson began a series of difficult conversations leading up to his departure, Shelburne and Andrews said, citing sources. First, he met with coach Steve Kerr in Los Angeles. Then he broke the news to his old teammates Steph Curry and Draymond Green over the phone. Finally, Thompson called Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy, asking them to help him get to a destination of his choosing via a sign-and-trade deal.
The Warriors complied and ultimately received two second-round picks in the three-team sign-and-trade deal, the Mavericks and the Charlotte Hornets.
Although both sides failed to reach an agreement, the split between Thompson and the Warriors appears to be amicable, and Golden State must now figure out how to move forward without one of its beloved icons.
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