Golden State Warriors: The implications of Klay Thompson’s All-NBA snub

The All-NBA teams have officially been revealed and Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson is unfortunately nowhere to be found.

The Golden State Warriors are just days away from taking part in their fifth straight NBA Finals. As such, the team is getting some much-needed rest in as they prepare to try and make history by becoming just the fourth NBA franchise to pull off the elusive three-peat.

But that doesn’t mean things are all quiet on the news front.

The NBA released their All-NBA team lineups on Thursday and one Warriors player was notably omitted. While the likes of Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant earned First Team and Second Team respectively, shooting guard Klay Thompson failed to secure a spot on any of the three teams.

This, of course, is disappointing to Thompson who averaged 21.5 points this season while shooting over 40% from three-point range. The three-time NBA champion is fresh off his fifth straight NBA All-Star appearance — something only eight players have accomplished over the last five years.

Yet, Thompson was ousted by the likes of Kemba Walker and Russell Westbrook on the Third Team and Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving on the Second Team.

Now, you could make an argument that this is how the voting should have gone and you likely aren’t going to find a single person who feels that Thompson belonged anywhere higher than the top three guards (Lillard, Curry, and James Harden).

But one could make the argument that he belonger higher than Irving and you could certainly contest that he deserved the nod more than Walker and even Westbrook.

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Still, that’s a discussion for another day.

In most professional sports leagues, awards and accolades are simply used to recognize incredible feats of athletic achievement. But that’s all that they are: recognition.

However, the NBA’s confounding All-NBA teams represent something much larger and could have a direct impact on a player’s financial status. Players could earn eligibility for a so-called “supermax” contract through these seemingly subjective labels of achievement.

There isn’t a set statistical threshold that needs to be met. There isn’t a specified point, assist, or rebound total that must be reached. Instead, a collection of members of the NBA media are tasked with deciding who is selected to each of the teams and, in turn, deciding who can be eligible for a supermax contract.

Unfortunately, Thompson’s latest All-NBA snub has left him inelgible for the much-desired supermax deal. Surprisingly, the 2011 first-round pick handled the news quite well when it was first broken to him by reporters as can be seen in the video below.

He isn’t solely bitter because he feels he deserves the award more. Rather, he’s bitter because he knows he just lost out on a good chunk of potential money.

$31 million, to be exact.

If he had been voted to the All-NBA Third Team, Thompson would have been eligible for a five-year contract worth up to $221 million — or a supermax contract. Instead, he can now only max out at $190 million falling short of the supermax threshold.

On the contrary, Charlotte Hornets point guard Kemba Walker was the final guard voted All-NBA and is now eligible for a supermax deal as a result. This seemingly marginal difference between Walker, Thompson — and even Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal who missed out by fewer than 20 votes — remarkably makes all the difference.

Walker is now eligible for a supermax contract while Thompson and Beal are not.

For Thompson, this is unfortunate and likely not something he’s too happy about. For the Warriors, however, this could help save them a colossal headache, as Forbes puts it.

It is going to be very difficult for Golden State to keep together their primary core of players this summer. Apart from Thompson, Kevin Durant is set to hit the open market and the odds continue to grow increasingly unlikely that he returns. And even if he does, the expected cap hit will be massive.

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Not to mention that the Warriors would also like to keep around reserve role player Kevon Looney who has established himself as one of the more underrated players in the team’s rotation.

While Thompson will still demand a ton of money, every extra dollar saved means something. Or in this case, we’re referring to every extra million.

Especially, when you consider the fact that the Warriors will have to look at extending Draymond Green next offseason. To complicate matters even further, if Green either qualifies for an All-NBA team OR is chosen as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, then he will qualify for a supermax contract.

Simply put, the Golden State Warriors are already in a bind with their finances.

They’ll likely operate over the luxury tax regardless, but continuing to pay over the luxury tax is a slippery slope. The rates increase exponentially the further over the tax a team pays making it even more important that they save money where they can.

Thompson’s snub is unfortunate for him and further proof that the current supermax qualifications should be revisited at the next CBA negotiations. But for the Warriors, this could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

Cynical? Yes. But inaccurate? Absolutely not.