The Golden State Warriors are planning to offer All-Star guard Klay Thompson a five-year, $190 million maximum contract when free agency opens Sunday at 6 p.m. ET — which is expected to accelerate the process of general manager Bob Myers and Thompson’s agent, Greg Lawrence, quickly reaching a formal agreement, league sources tell ESPN.
Thompson and Lawrence have indicated throughout the past year that the five-time All-Star guard planned to return to the Warriors if offered the full five-year max deal — and that’s on course to happen now, league sources said.
Thompson is one of the NBA’s best all-around players and a foundational talent for a franchise that’s won three championships and reached five NBA Finals with him as a star performer.
Despite suffering a torn ACL in his left knee in the NBA Finals, the Warriors remained committed to keeping Thompson out of free agency and bringing him into the franchise’s new downtown San Francisco arena with Stephen Curry into the future.
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Several teams pursuing Thompson in free agency have given up hope in recent days, believing that he was moving toward a return to the Warriors.
Now the Warriors will turn toward trying to retain All-NBA star Kevin Durant, who is entering free agency. Durant suffered a torn Achilles in the NBA Finals and could miss an entire season.
Thompson has had seven consecutive seasons with at least 200 3-pointers, tied with Curry for the most in NBA history. He has eight straight seasons of shooting at least 40% on 3-pointers, which is the league’s second-longest active streak in the NBA behind Curry. His 1,798 career 3’s are 16th all time.
Thompson is one of the league’s elite wing defenders, too. He was a second-team All-NBA defensive selection this year.
Prior to the ACL tear, Thompson had been one of the most durable players in the NBA. He has missed only 25 games (including playoffs) since Steve Kerr arrived as coach in 2014. He’s played at least 70-plus games, averaging more than 30 minutes each of the past seven seasons. Only James Harden, Damian Lillard and Thaddeus Young have had similar runs in that span.
Thompson was selected 11th overall by the Warriors in the 2011 draft. He’s a five-time All-Star and two-time third-team All-NBA player averaging 19.5 points and 42% 3-point shooting in his career.
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