Klay Thompson will fix 99 percent of Golden State Warriors’ problems

The Golden State Warriors have a load of problems midway through the 2020-21 NBA season. Thankfully, the eventual return of Klay Thompson will solve just about every single one of those issues.

Thompson, a five-time All-Star and three-time NBA Champion has been one of the unsung heroes throughout the Warriors’ title runs. He’s shown up big pretty much each time they needed him – and will go down in the Hall of Fame as a legendary sidekick akin to Scottie Pippen.

It’s really not a shock to say the Dubs have struggled in his absence. Klay has missed one and a half seasons since he tore his ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals and is likely to miss the remainder of this season as well. But, we have plenty of reason to assume he will be the same player when he returns.

Modern medicine has allowed a number of players to make inspiring comebacks from brutal injuries. In recent years, we’ve seen stars such as Paul George, Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant make full recoveries from otherwise career-ending injuries. Other names like John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins have made inspiring comebacks – though they haven’t looked 100 percent like their former selves.

Klay Thompson should be back sooner rather than later for the Golden State Warriors. And, he’ll solve all of their problems when he returns.

So what does a healthy Thompson fix for the Warriors? Well, most notably, he relieves an immense pressure off of Stephen Curry. Through the first half of the season, Curry is posting numbers parallel to his unanimous MVP season. Except, instead of winning 73 games – the Warriors are sitting outside of the playoff picture.

This is because even in Currys’ most explosive games, the team isn’t guaranteed to walk away with a win anymore. The Dubs’ supporting cast isn’t strong enough to… well, support Curry each night. This has caused them to drop games they otherwise would have won.

Bringing Klay back to the lineup means rewarding Curry with an elite 3-point presence to coexist with. It’s hard to overload on Curry when Thompson is lingering to drill a backbreaking bucket.

Thompson brings much more than just scoring, though. As long as he doesn’t suffer any major setbacks, he will return to the team as their best perimeter defender. A quick-witted, lanky defender who can check the opposing squads’ best scorer.

Did we say quick-witted? Thompson would also be a welcomed presence on the floor as he is one of the three members of the team whose IQ matches his talent level. Thompson understands the system and will help transform the Warriors back from a robotic team who takes a brief second to orchestrate plays to the fluid, natural instincts squad that dominated the league for half a decade.

Thompson brings the type of quality defense that Wiggins and Oubre have shown – but magnifies their offensive attributes and improves the overall team chemistry. His return next season will patch up all the holes that are causing the Dubs to sink this season.