Surprising Warriors veteran should be the real Klay Thompson replacement

Once Klay Thompson's move to the Dallas Mavericks was confirmed earlier this month, much attention has focused on how the Golden State Warriors will replace the 5x All-Star. Sure, the 34-year-old was no longer his prime self over the past couple of seasons, but he was still one of the league's premier three-point shooters and the team's second-leading scorer.

The Warriors quickly moved to sign De'Anthony Melton in the wake of Thompson's departure, presenting as a viable three-and-D option at the starting shooting guard position. Brandin Podziemski will also lay claim to that role and hopes to replace some of Thompson's production, and so too will fourth-year lottery pick Moses Moody. Then there's Buddy Hield who's the most comparable to Thompson purely from a shooting perspective.

Yet while all three will look to combine to help replace Thompson's absence in one way or another, it may be one of his former championship teammates who is best placed to step up next season.

Andrew Wiggins could well prove to be the real Klay Thompson replacement for the Golden State Warriors moving forward

Thompson averaged 21.9 and 17.2 points in each of the past two seasons - scoring production that neither Podziemski, Moody, Melton or Hield are likely to get to individually. So who can? Jonathan Kuminga could, though in a far different way to that of his now-former teammate.

The answer may be Andrew Wiggins who will be desperately looking for a bounce-back season after a career-worst year in 2023-24. Is he the absolute three-point sniper Thompson is? No. Yet Wiggins plays a three-and-D role for the Warriors and has in previous years been an efficient, high volume shooter from beyond the arc.

In a recent episode of the Club 520 podcast, Draymond Green outlined his expectation that "we'll get Wiggs from 2022 back this year." Much of the efforts to return somewhere near that level should be focused on Wiggins' shooting, having seen a sharp decline last season.

It wasn't totally about the efficiency either, though his 35.8% was below the previous three years where Wiggins shot 38%, 39.3% and 39.6% from beyond the arc. Instead it's more so about the volume -- the Canadian's three-point attempts per game over the past five seasons are as follows: 6.2, 5.2, 5.5, 6.1 and 3.6. That last number is a clear outlier, suggesting Wiggins should be trying to get back to somewhere between five and six attempts per game if not more.

As a result the 2022 All-Star's scoring should return somewhere between 17-20 points per game, much more in line to what he's done previously and also in line to what Thompson was doing. Then there's the defensive side of the ball where Wiggins remains Golden State's primary perimeter defender -- a job Thompson prior to his devastating injuries.

So while the likes of Podziemski, Moody, Melton and Hield could all be crucial in providing valuable impact next season, it may be Wiggins more so than anyone else who is the real Thompson replacement for the Warriors.