Through the first few weeks of an impressive start to the season, Klay Thompson's departure from the Golden State Warriors had become an afterthought.
Buddy Hield had come in and shot the lights out as the best bench player in the league, and De'Anthony Melton looked a perfect fit as a three-and-D player alongside Stephen Curry in the back court.
Then things changed upon Thompson's return to Chase Center. The Warriors won the game thanks to Curry's late-game heroics, but they also suffered a devastating injury with Melton going down with a torn ACL that ended his season prematurely.
The Warriors are officially missing Klay Thompson
Since Melton's injury, Golden State have been completely devoid of the skillset that he brought and was a perfect complement to Curry. Lindy Waters III was a short-term but unsustainable starting option, with the 27-year-old now down to less than 35% shooting this season including 32% from 3-point range.
After an incredibly hot start that even garnered All-Star discussion, Hield was largely a liability on the court throughout the month of December. The 31-year-old averaged 8.5 points on 30.5% from beyond the arc, with his struggles even drawing the ire of Draymond Green who cussed out Hield during Saturday's game against the Phoenix Suns.
Furthermore, Brandin Podziemski hasn't taken the second-year leap many expected, Moses Moody has battled injury concerns, and the arrival of Dennis Schroder is hardly off to a flying start as the veteran guard has shot 29.7% from the floor in his seven games for the Warriors so far.
The last few games have really been the first time you could comfortably argue that Golden State have missed Thompson's presence, particularly given their offensive struggles that saw them rank 26th on that end during December.
Thompson may no longer hold the same defensive presence or on-ball creation ability that Melton did, but his sheer shooting threat would be a massive help to the current state of the Warriors. The 34-year-old may be shooting a career-low 38% from 3-point range, but he's still closely guarded in a way many of Golden State's current players simply aren't.
It's easy to say that the Warriors made a mistake not re-signing Thompson with the benefit of hindsight and the knowledge of Melton's injury. In saying that, the only reason they got Melton so cheaply in free agency was because of his injury concerns, so perhaps they should have had some foresight in preparing for that possibility.
Had Thompson stuck in the Bay, he'd probably still sit in the starting shooting guard role he owned for so many years. Would the Warriors be any better than their current 16-16 record? Perhaps not, yet at least fans could still enjoy watching a franchise legend that brought so much success over the past 10-12 years.