Ranking the 3 biggest disappointments from the Golden State Warriors' season
3. Klay Thompson
For the second-consecutive year, Klay Thompson's season started in poor fashion and ended in much the same way. In between was a raft of positives that shouldn't be forgotten, but it was nonetheless a disappointing season for the veteran sharpshooter.
Even despite averaging 16.2 points on just 34.3% shooting against the Los Angeles Lakers in the second-round of last year's playoffs, there was optimism that Thompson could improve on his previous season given he was more time removed from two serious leg injuries.
After a season-opening 6-of-18 shooting performance against the Phoenix Suns, Thompson's following few performances were actually fairly efficient (albeit on low volume) as Golden State started with a 5-1 record.
Yet the five time All-Star's form mirrored that of his team's over the next few weeks -- in a 13-game span where the franchise went 4-9, Thompson failed to record a game of 50% shooting or better. Two of the defeats came by a single point and a further six by single-digits, leading to thought on what the record may have been if Thompson had been slightly better.
By the middle of February through 49 games, Thompson was shooting a career-low 41.5% from the floor and 36.5% from three-point range. It led to Steve Kerr's brutal decision to demote the franchise legend to the bench, a move Thompson responded to with 35 points in 28 minutes against the Utah Jazz.
That begun a much stronger close to the season for Thompson who would go on to average 19.4 points on 41.8% three-point shooting over the final 28 games. Unfortunately his performance against the Kings on Tuesday reflected that of his early season struggles, having gone scoreless for the first time since his rookie season.
It also signified that Thompson's no longer the reliable shooter and scorer that he once was, despite the fact that his season average of 17.9 points on 38.7% three-point shooting is nothing to sneeze at. The 34-year-old is still capable of extraordinary shooting performances, but the gap between his best and his worst was undoubtedly a disappointing aspect to the Golden State season.