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It’s been just over two years since Klay Thompson shocked the basketball world and announced that he would be leaving the Golden State Warriors. It was, at the same time, extremely surprising and not surprising at all. Surprising because Thompson was a beloved franchise icon who had spent the first 13 years of his career on the Warriors, won four championships, and formed an unbreakable bond with fellow stars Draymond Green and Steph Curry. And it was unsurprising because it was clear that things had soured in the prior season, with reports of Thompson’s unhappiness swirling everywhere.
Things haven’t gone particularly well for Klay since then. He signed a three-year deal with the Dallas Mavericks with the intention of competing for a title with Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving, but the latter has played just 50 games over those two years, while the former was shockingly traded for Anthony Davis, who was salary dumped last year. On top of it all, Thompson put up career-lows in points per game, field goal percentage, and three-point percentage last year, all while having a public breakup with rapper Megan Thee Stallion … a breakup that did not make Klay look very good.
And so he enters the final year of his Mavs deal with the team likely looking to move him, as they have hit the reset button and decided to build around 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. And so it caught some people’s attention last week when, at Fanatics Fest, told a fan “It’d be nice to end it in Golden State.”
That’s highly unlikely to happen this year, as the Warriors can’t really trade for Thompson’s contract, and he probably won’t get bought out. But next year, when he’s a free agent who won’t have much of a market? Or later this year if he is available on the buyout market?
Bringing back legends is always a tricky thing. It always feels like both a great idea and an awful one. How would you feel?
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