Once again, here is a gentle reminder that the NBA rules the summer. Aside from the Boston Celtics’ recent 18th title and the NBA’s controversial two-day draft process, the league’s focus has shifted to free agency, commonly known as Christmas in July for those who celebrate this NBA holiday. Teams cannot begin negotiating with impending free agents who are not members of their organization until June 30 at 6 p.m. Eastern Time. Then then, Paul George, Klay Thompson, and the Golden State Warriors have already set off the pyrotechnics with no moves made.
Thompson has dominated the conversation around the Warriors this season. Next to Stephen Curry, the five-time All-Star and four-time NBA champion may be the most valuable player this organization has ever produced. Thompson will one day have a monument outside Chase Center in San Francisco, and his No. 11 jersey will hang in the rafters beside Curry’s No. 30 when the two future Hall of Famers retire.
However, the Splash Brothers will not be able to retire together because Thompson is leaving. The Warriors and Thompson never had substantive talks during the early bargaining window before free agency, according to league sources, leading the star shooting guard away from the franchise he has called home for 13 years. Whatever happens, Thompson will be remembered as a Bay Area great for his contributions to the Warriors’ four championship banners. Without him, Golden State would not have won any of its four championships since 2015, and the Warriors would not have become the dynasty they are today.
All good things come to an end, and Thompson’s time with the Warriors is over. Of course, that is until the unexpected occurs and the two parties have an abrupt change of heart, like in one of those wacky rom-coms in which the girl abandons the altar and her fiancé to chase her one true love.
The Warriors have been planning for Thompson’s exit since the middle of the season, when he was relegated to the bench, according to sources. Thompson did not handle the situation well, viewing the rotational adjustment as an insult and degradation. After everything he had gone through with the franchise, the star shooting guard felt as if he was being singled out for the Warriors’ failures, despite the fact that there were other causes for their downturn during the 2023-24 season.
As the offseason began and the Warriors’ front staff struggled to devise a strategy, one crucial player, who was also facing significant uncertainty ahead of free agency, emerged as the organization’s primary priority. About 380 miles south on I-5, Paul George became the
George, like Thompson, had his contract with the Los Angeles Clippers expire in the midst of the 2023-24 season. When Kawhi Leonard inked a three-year, $149.65 million contract extension with the organization, it was widely believed that George would follow suit within a few days. Days turned into weeks, and eventually months. With George’s $48.7 million player option for the 2024-25 season, the focus in Los Angeles swiftly moved from the Clippers’ ability to re-sign George to the nine-time All-Star’s serious consideration of other possibilities and suitors.
On Saturday, George faced the option of whether to opt in or out of his contract with the Clippers. If he chose, there was a great likelihood that he would be dealt, according to insiders, due to LA’s refusal to provide him the contract he feels he deserves. According to ClutchPoints’ Tomer Azarly, George was never offered more than Kawhi’s contract. In truth, the Clippers’ offers to George for a new contract were always lower than Leonard’s. This displeasure with the franchise caused George to become the subject of trade speculations leading up to free agency.
With Thompson’s future becoming increasingly uncertain ahead of free agency, the Warriors prioritized George and attempted to reach an agreement with the Clippers before Saturday, according to sources. Not only were the Warriors genuinely interested in providing the great forward the new long-term contract he desired near the conclusion of his career, but George himself looked to be excited by the prospect of collaborating alongside Curry and Draymond Green.
