Things are getting difficult for the Golden State Warriors. This team lost Jimmy Butler for the season on Monday against the Miami Heat, and they've yet to win a game since then. Many have wondered what the front office's next move should be. While there's no shortage of wild options, by far the best one would be to trade for Klay Thompson.
Is this a suggestion of getting Klay back on the roster purely for nostalgia and vibes purposes? Well, basically, yes. This team came into the season with expectations of being able to make a deep run in the playoffs and potentially eke one last title out of the Stephen Curry era. While that's still technically a possibility, it's not one that any honest Warriors fan would tell you they have hope of actually happening at this point.
The best-case scenario for the Warriors now feels like a play-in berth. They don't have the roster depth to win a lot of games without Jimmy, and the Western Conference is still as brutal as ever. This team looks increasingly bound for a short postseason, if they get one at all.
With that in mind, should the team try to make some sort of swing for a big name or push all their chips to the center of the table in some other way? Perhaps, but the realisitic nature of that happening also feels a bit suspect at best. After failing to trade or sign Jonathan Kuminga in the offseason, it feels like every roster move that the Warriors have wanted to make has fallen apart in one way or another.
The Warriors need to trade for Klay Thompson
So maybe the best option is to make a more realistic move now to get the vibes back, then focus on more long-term, forward thinking moves in the offseason. And when it comes to nostalgia-based transactions, there would be none greater than getting Klay Thompson back in the locker room.
After a season and a half with the Dallas Mavericks, Klay being on another team still doesn't feel normal. His tenure in the Bay Area didn't end perfectly, but what better time to mend scars and move forward together than right now?
The Mavs may be looking to move his contract anyway, and restoring Thompson alongside his legendary teammates in Curry and Draymond Green just feels like the right thing to do. Get the old big three back together, make the fanbase happy, and maybe that'll be the beginning of some better times.
You just can't have Klay Thompson end his career on a team other than the Golden State Warriors. Do what you have to do to get him back in the blue and gold, and whatever happens after that will happen. But at least do the right thing and let this legendary trio end their careers together, as they were always supposed to.