What Golden State Warriors can expect from Klay Thompson

There have been plenty of discussions and potential reasons as to why the Golden State Warriors have struggled in the past two seasons, culminating in back-to-back playoff misses after five consecutive years at the NBA Finals. For all the discussion there’s one fact that stands above all else – it’s extremely difficult to be a winning team with a three-time champion and five-time all-star missing in Klay Thompson.

Klay Thompson has been sorely missed by the Golden State Warriors as he recovers from a second consecutive major leg injury.

Could Bob Myers and the front office have done a better job in acquiring a Klay replacement during this period? Perhaps. But the fact is that there is no replacing Klay Thompson, his elite combination of shooting and defense has made him perhaps the best 3-and-D player in the history of the NBA.

In what must warm the heart of Warriors fans, and even just NBA fans in general, it seems like Thompson may be on the final stretch of a horrible two years. He shared a story to his Instagram page showing him knocking down a catch and shoot three, reminding everyone of that smooth shooting stroke.

Watching Thompson return, whenever that point is, will be a heartwarming moment for all basketball fans. But tied in with the emotion comes one cold hard fact, the Warriors need a healthy and productive Klay Thompson to return to title contention.

So what should fans and those within the Warriors organization expect from Thompson this upcoming season? With no timetable yet on his return, the expectation on the first half of the season should be ‘not much.’

All things going well, we should see Thompson before the conclusion of 2021. Even when he returns though, for the initial period we just want to see a healthy player that’s loving being back out there. If he misses his first ten threes then who cares. What I can tell you is that Chase Center will be rocking when that first one drops.

The entire goal should be having Thompson ready by playoff time, ideally, off of a minutes restriction and back acclimatized to NBA basketball. If the Warriors are to make the playoffs, could we see him averaging 20 points in a series as a realistic possibility? That’s what the Warriors will need from him in order to return to a deep position in the playoffs.

To put it simply, there are no expectations for Klay Thompson in the short term. All everyone wants is to see him step back on an NBA court again. At some point though, near playoff time, there’s going to be an expectation. The Warriors simply can’t win without him, that’s how good and valuable he is to this team, to the game of basketball in general.