Warriors right to reportedly reject former player in exchange for Klay Thompson

The Golden State Warriors have made some decisions considered questionable at best by fans so far this offseason, but their latest one should certainly be viewed as the correct move.

Amid the heart-wrenching loss of franchise legend Klay Thompson to the Dallas Mavericks, the Warriors are currently looking to finalize a sign-and-trade which, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, is likely to include Dallas forward Josh Green heading to the Charlotte Hornets, and Golden State opening up a traded player exception for the front office to utilize at some point in the next year.

The Golden State Warriors made the right decision rejecting D'Angelo Russell as part of a sign-and-trade for Klay Thompson

Before Thompson established his intention to sign a three-year, $50 million deal with the Mavericks, the Los Angeles Lakers were heavily pursuing the veteran sharpshooter to add him alongside LeBron James, Anthony Davis and company.

In fact, according to Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes, Thompson may have actually taken less to head to the Mavericks than he could have got at the Lakers. A three or four-year deal at $20 million per season was reportedly on the table, which would have also required a sign-and-trade that could have returned the Warriors D'Angelo Russell.

"I was told that it would likely involve D'Angelo Russell in a part of a deal to get Klay. From what I was told, the Warriors weren't interested in bringing back D'Angelo Russell."

- Chris Haynes

Golden State acquired Russell in a sign-and-trade for Kevin Durant five years ago, before flipping him mid-way through his first season for Andrew Wiggins and a pick that resulted in Jonathan Kuminga. But as good as that may have worked out for the franchise, they were right to reject the Russell proposal this time around.

While the 28-year-old could have theoretically had another crack at being a starting back court teammate for Stephen Curry, and subsequently released some of the offensive burden on the two-time MVP, he remains a polarizing player that the Warriors should want no business in.

There's a reason the Lakers are happy to move on from Russell in search of an upgrade, even after a season where he averaged 18 points and 6.3 assists on a career-high 41.5% shooting from three-point range.

Instead of Russell, the Warriors will now have the flexibility to go out and explore the trade market for any player making less than $16 million annually. That gives them greater opportunity to pinpoint a player that makes far more sense than Russell, not to mention how difficult it would have been to watch Thompson in a Laker uniform next season.