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Klay Thompson Not Thinking About ‘Free Agent’ After Elimination

Klay Thompson Not Thinking About 'Free Agent' After Elimination

Klay Thompson not thinking about ‘free agent’ after elimination from the NBA play-offs after a Play-In loss. Kay Thompson plays for the Golden State Warriors.

Klay Thompson has provided numerous memorable moments during his decade-plus tenure as Stephen Curry’s Splash Brother running mate for the Golden State Warriors dynasty.

Game 6 heroics. The results of 3-pointers. The shutout defense against some of the game’s leading scorers.

Those were all distant memories as Thompson had one of his worst games ever at a critical time, missing all ten shots he took Tuesday night in a 118-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings in the Play-In Tournament, Thompson’s final game before an uncertain summer in free agency.

“Everybody’s going to talk about one game,” Curry explained. “I’m sure he wanted to improve his game. I know he is a true champion. When the lights are bright, we all prepare to perform at our peak. Nobody should tell you anything if it does not happen.

Thompson sat on the bench with a blank stare for the final minutes of the loss before slowly walking off the court for what could have been his final game in a Warriors uniform.

He went scoreless for the first time since his rookie season, and he had the most missed shots without a make in a playoff game of any Warriors’ player in at least 50 years.

It was a far cry from his 37-point third quarter against the Kings in 2015, his 60-point game against Indiana the following season, or the 11 3-pointers he made in the sixth game of the 2016 Western Conference Finals against Oklahoma City, which forced a seventh game and an eventual return to the NBA Finals.

However, Thompson has struggled to return to that level after missing two full seasons in 2019-20 and 2020-21 due to catastrophic knee and Achilles injuries. He returned to help Golden State win its fourth championship in this era in 2022, but struggled for much of the season.

He was benched in key late-game moments and forced to come off the bench for a stretch, but he appeared to find his groove late in the season before falling flat against the Kings.

This marked the end of his five-year, nearly $190 million contract, and he will become a free agent in July. The Warriors must decide how much they are willing to pay a 34-year-old whose best seasons are behind him due to a pair of serious injuries, and Thompson must decide how much of a pay cut he is willing to accept or whether he would prefer to finish his career elsewhere.