KlayThompson Trade Rumors Reveal His Underestimated Value

Klay Thompson has been the subject of trade rumors all summer — and those rumors expose his understimated value.

Klay Thompson‘s summer has been more interesting than he was expecting. During free-agency, the Golden State Warriors front-office thought they would have been solely focused on the contracts of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston.

And while those deals figured prominently in the front office’s summer, they also received some interesting trade offers for their shooting guard.

The Indiana Pacers’ front office proposed the trade, with Paul George being the centerpiece of the deal. The Pacers became aware of George’s plans to leave the team during free-agency next year, so they decided to get something in exchange for their superstar.

Pacers GM Chad Buchanan immediately contacted the NBA Champions trying to work a deal for Klay Thompson.

Golden State’s shooting guard could have been the new face of the Indiana Pacers, maybe even stepping into a role Indiana legend Reggie Miller first carved out. Instead, the Warriors bounced the offer preferring keep Thompson and the Splash Brothers together.

This decision is not just because a personal preference exists, but also for economic reasons as well. In fact, Paul George will be free-agent next summer and there is no certainty he will extend his contract — especially given his expressed interest of the Los Angeles Lakers, his native team city.

But also, even if he would have accepted an extension with Golden State, Bob Myers would have to deal with a very complicated salary cap situation, likely able to offer no more than the Non-Bird Rights for him.

Conversely, Klay Thompson‘s contract has two more years and the chance to extend it using full rights, because he was drafted by the Warriors. Also from a tactical point of view, this trade would have left some questions.

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The biggest issue for the Warriors during the Finals they lost in 2016, was the defensive approach of the backcourt.

With Kyrie Irving and J.R. Smith able to shoot, it hurt Golden State as Stephen Curry struggled. The situation changed last year, with Thompson providing a masterpiece during the Finals.

In Game One, for example, Thompson allowed Kyrie Irving to hit on  just one of 12 shots — against other defenders, Irving hit on nine of 17.

And until last week, even Irving  had been involved in trade rumors with the Warriors  before he was dealt to the Boston Celtics.

It was another deal though, the Warriors declined, opting to not step into what would have been an unpredictable deal. The Warriors front office preferred to not touch the core of the team, preferring the shooting guard drafted in 2011 over Irving.

Which is understandable if you try to imagine what could happen with a backcourt composed of Stephen Curry and Kyrie Irving. While that duo would potentially be incredible on offense, defense is the weakness for both players.

What Klay Thompson is able to do on both ends of the floor something unique, and given his lower than actual value contract, the Warriors aren’t necessarily looking  to trade him.

Given the new contracts for Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, the team’s payroll exploded, coming in second league-wide with $137.5 million — which is just behind Cleveland.

The  Warriors were prepared for this situation, but there are still a few questions about the future. In fact, in two years, the Warriors could renounce one of their superstars, considering the upcoming extensions for Thompson, Durant and Livingston in 2019 and Iguodala and Green in 2020.

For this reason, the results for this team in next two seasons will be essential — before the relocation from Oakland to San Francisco. In fact, for GM Bob Myers and the owner Joe Lacob, one of the main goals is to increase the brand value of this team. Last season, the Golden State Warriors ranked as the second-best team in terms of  net income after sharing revenues during the last season — just behind the Los Angeles Lakers.

But the Warriors could be called upon  to renounce some assets in next few years. The most expendable player may be Livingston, who will have just a partial guaranteed contract for the last year of his deal and could be sacrificed to satisfy Thompson’s salary requests — which will be discussed that same summer.

But even renouncing Livingston may not be enough and, considering Golden State would be in luxury tax for two years, the front office could be considering a trade for Thompson and save the money to spend for the Draymond Green extension the next year.

So, what would be the price (if there is such a thing) that could convince the Warriors to let go of Thompson? Checking the rosters and the salary cap situation for every team, here are some hypothetical scenarios.