NBA Rumors: The Golden State Warriors May Need to Make a Tough Decision Regarding Klay Thompson
Thompson's current contract is set to expire at the end of the 2018-19 season
Things are going extremely well right now for the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors' core of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson is arguably the best put together in NBA history since those players complement each other ideally, and they all do well on both ends of the floor too.
It would take a monumental upset or a string of unfortunate injuries for the Warriors to miss out on claiming their third NBA title in four seasons next year, and they will likely enter the 2018-19 campaign as the title favorites again.
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Still, even though things are just about perfect for the Warriors currently, sometime soon, changes may be forced upon them.
As Metro US noted, the hard salary cap could make it incredibly difficult for the Warriors to keep their current core intact.
The people in charge of the Warriors are already paying upwards of $136 million in salaries to the members of the roster for this season, and that number is $127 million for the 2018-19 season, as shown in Hoops Hype.
The Warriors' 2017-18 cap figure is already significantly higher than the tax level for this season. Their projected 2018-19 cap figure is also expected to exceed the projected 2018-19 tax level, which could be $120.8 million, as seen in a report from Blazer's Edge.
All of this means that even if the Warriors do not add more commitments for this season and the next, they are still projected to be over the tax level and they may have to face some onerous financial penalties.
Furthermore, even with just five contracts on the books for the 2019-20 season, the Warriors are already slated to have more than $83 million committed to their roster.
This then brings the focus back to the changes that could be forced upon the Warriors.
Currently, Durant and Thompson are unsigned for the 2019-20 season. In all likelihood, the Warriors are going to want to hold on to Durant, but Thompson is another question.
Thompson will likely be seeking a raise once his current contract expires, and it is entirely possible that the figure he wants exceeds $20 million.
Even if the 2019-20 tax level is set at $129 million, which is a possibility according to that previously cited Blazer's Edge report, the Warriors may be hard-pressed to re-sign both Durant and Thompson to lucrative extensions, especially since the rest of the roster still needs to be filled out.
Unless the Warriors can somehow talk Durant and Thompson into taking well below-market deals, the likely outcome here is that the franchise will have to choose one player over the other, meaning the latter's time with the team could end by then.
Thompson is an essential member of the Warriors' championship core, but sometime soon, he could become a core player of a different NBA team.
