Swindle and Curve: Teams’ Hopes To Steal Thompson Are Futile And Comical

Klay Thompson has seemed to pop up in every trade rumor involving the Golden State Warriors. It’s all a ploy for teams to steal him away.

“Hey, Big Head!”

This greeting is a tired staple for exes that are trying to get that “old thing back,” or for that ambitious single trying to ‘shoot his or her shot’ in scenarios that are played out in various direct messages throughout social media.

For Warriors’ President Of Basketball Operations and General Manager Bob Meyers, the greeting is a desperate metaphor. The Pacers and Cavaliers look like a couple of shameless Instagram models sliding into a dude’s DM’s when they offered Paul George and Kyrie Irving to the ‘Dubs for Klay Thompson during the offseason.

When you look at Klay, you see someone who averaged 22.3 points per game alongside the lethal tandem of Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. You see a man who is a combustible scorer who can hang 37 points in a quarter or 60 points in a game on you. On defense, you see an underrated and long perimeter defender.

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The reasons why teams may be interested in Klay are obvious. Teams would be foolish not to want this man on their squad. But I see different motives that are just as obvious as wanting to improve a team. To me, the Pacers and Cavs don’t want Klay for the sake of their squad per-se. To them, it’s all about breaking up the Warriors by any means possible, and somehow they think that the way to do it is through Klay.
It makes sense because the Warriors emphatically proved that Steph and KD could co-exist. They did so by putting up 25.3 (Curry) and 25.1 (Durant) points during the regular season and 28.5 (Durant) and 28.1(Curry) during the playoffs.

The hope that injury would derail the team or ego clashes would drive this team apart were crushed when the Warriors won 14 straight with out KD during the tail end of the regular season and when KD took less than the max and resigned with the team in July. Targeting Steph and KD were out of the question. According to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole, they can’t really target Draymond Green because his versatility and his intensity are priceless. Which leaves Klay as the target.

         “So it’s Thompson who get his tires kicked. He’s 27 years old, has two years remaining on his contract and, most germane, seems to be the least emotionally invested star in the organization. That may not be true, but it’s an easy conclusion and the misguided thought that the Warriors don’t value him as much as they do the others. Wrong.”

With every ‘No’, teams are learning quickly that perceptions aren’t always reality. Obviously, the Warriors value Thompson. Why else is Bob Meyers ‘curving’ every offer that other teams propose? It is because they know that Klay is just as integral in the teams plans as Steph, KD, and Draymond are. Klay is appreciated.

Here is what I find fascinating about ‘Klay for whoever’. It seems to me that teams assume that the Warriors are insanely greedy and they think that they can easily appeal to that ‘greed’. It’s been said that the Warriors’ front office keeps an eye on free agents but that doesn’t mean they would sacrifice what they have built just to have any big name on their roster. Think about how awkward in chemistry and function a starting line up with two small guards in KD and Paul George would be? I don’t think Paul George would elect to be a reserve. I also don’t think there is a shooter on the bench that could take over for Klay.

A Curry/Irving backcourt would be problematic defensively. Both players aren’t known for their defense. Teams could have a field day with mismatches. The Warriors would be insane to give up Klay and what he brings on defense.

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The craziest thing about all of this is that there is no inkling of Klay being unhappy. He has said that he is happy to play in Golden State. He’s content with the amount of shots he has. Remember he told us he wasn’t sacrificing ‘anything’ before the beginning of last season. He’s not concerned with the limelight. He just wants to win and he wants to do so as a Warrior.

It doesn’t matter what Thompson says however. Teams will continue to slide in Meyers’ DM about him. Rumors will swirl. The only thing Meyers can do is what he’s doing right now: swipe left.