Where will Golden State Warriors legend Klay Thompson be next season?

The Golden State dynasty is over. After the Warriors reached five straight NBA Finals between 2015 and 2019 - winning three of them - we’re now in a new era in the North American basketball league. The Boston Celtics are the freshly-crowned champions, having become the sixth different winner of the NBA in the last six seasons.

The last team to retain the title was, of course, Golden State, who have also picked up one more Larry O’Brien Trophy during this period in which the NBA has lacked a dominant team. That 2022 triumph was the final salvo fired by a team that created one of the most glorious dynasties the NBA has ever witnessed: a period of success marked by both blowout victories and unlikely triumphs; by the team’s historic 73-9 regular season; by Golden State’s rivalry with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers… All that, and more, defines a team which, like so many other great sides before them, has finally succumbed to Father Time. Put simply: you can’t go on winning forever.

Warriors unwilling to meet Thompson demands

That said, the Warriors appear reluctant to break up the old guard, despite failing to even make the NBA Playoffs last season. Stephen Curry, now 36, is to stay on; so, too, will 34-year-old Draymond Green; and head coach Steve Kerr is to remain at the helm at Chase Center. The only question mark hangs over the future of Klay Thompson, who is in negotiations with the franchise and is yet to reach an agreement. Thompson will be 35 next February and has failed to fire in recent seasons, having suffered two of the worst injuries a basketball player can be hit by: a ruptured meniscus in his knee, and a torn Achilles tendon.

The shooting guard continues to feel the after-effects of those injuries. He no longer sinks three-pointers like he used to, and his defensive play has dropped off significantly; he’s a weaker player, both mentally and physically. Despite that, the Warriors want to extend his contract - but are only willing to offer him two more years. Thompson wants three. It’s a mater of pride, the five-time All-Star has said.

Magic emerge as option for Warriors great

Amid his contract impasse with the Warriors, Thompson has also been offered the option of joining the Orlando Magic. Having this year returned to the postseason for the first time since 2020, the Magic look to be a franchise on the rise. Under head coach Jamahl Mosley, Orlando are keen to bring in a high-class veteran to help the team continue its upward trajectory, and Thompson is reported to be open to the idea of playing for the Floridians. Like the Warriors, however, the Magic are unwilling to offer him more than a two-year deal.

Given that he’s a player whose best years appear to be behind him, it’s an understandable stance. After all, he even started some Warriors games on the bench last term - an unthinkable state of affairs when he and Golden State were at the top of their game. And let’s not forget the ignominious manner in which Thompson’s season ended: a 118-94 Play-In defeat to the Sacramento Kings, in which the shooting guard played dreadfully, failing to score a single point as he missed all 10 of his field-goal attempts, including six three-point shots.

Now, it is down to Thompson to decide on his future. The Warriors have made it clear that they want to squeeze every last drop out of their ‘big three’ of Curry, Green and Thompson - whatever the consequences for their ability to compete. But, as the franchise with the highest luxury-tax bill in the NBA, the Warriors also need to balance the books and aren’t in a position to give anything away financially.

So the ball is now firmly in the court of a player who is after one last big contract. Despite this unhappy final chapter to his career - as things stand, at least - Thompson will go down in the history books as a legend of the NBA. As one of the finest shooters of all time. As a player who was, for a long time, at the heart of one of the greatest dynasties in the NBA. That takes some doing.