Klay Thompson got paid after all. After a summer that saw the Golden State Warriors refuse to trade him for Kevin Love, it was inevitable that he was going to get a max contract either through an extension or restricted free agency next summer. Yahoo’s Marc Spears is reporting that the Warriors aren’t going to let Thompson hit the open market:
Source says Klay Thompson to land a four-year deal paying close to $70 million with Warriors.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) October 31, 2014
Spears also reported that the Sacramento Kings made a last-minute push to trade for Thompson:
The Warriors had no choice but to give Thompson the max. Recent reports had the two sides apart on dollars, but as soon as Golden State made it clear they weren’t trading him for Love, a consensus top-1o player in the NBA, any chance that he wouldn’t get a max deal was gone.
Whether Thompson is worth the money or not (and he probably is), that’s the market for wings who play both sides of the ball. Gordon Hayward got a four-year, $64 million offer sheet from Charlotte this summer, which Utah matched. Kawhi Leonard is holding out for a max deal with the Spurs. And with new head coach Steve Kerr promising a more dynamic offense, Thompson looks to be even more valuable than he has been in the past.