Golden State Warriors beat No. 1 Sacramento Kings 118-94. 9 vs. Following a 10-game Western Conference play-in loss, Warriors superstar guard Stephen Curry discussed his future with longtime teammates Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
Speaking to reporters, Curry said, referring to Thompson and Green, “I can't see myself with those two guys”:
With Curry and Green under contract for years, Thompson is poised to hit free agency this offseason and potentially play elsewhere for the first time in his NBA career.
Green, Thompson and Green have been teammates since the 2012–13 season, when Green entered the league as a second-round pick.
From 2012 to 2023, the Warriors made nine playoff appearances in 11 seasons. They made five consecutive NBA Finals appearances from 2014 to 2019 and six Finals appearances over an eight-year span from 2014 to 2022, winning four of them.
The Warriors are the closest thing to a dynasty since the Los Angeles Lakers three-peat in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and the three constants are Curry, Thompson and Green.
Golden State is two seasons removed from winning its most recent championship, but it fell in the second round of the playoffs last season and has yet to win a play-in this season, going 46-36.
Curry, Thompson and Green are all 34 years old or older, and they've been active to varying degrees during the 2023-24 campaign.
At age 36, Curry continues to perform at an elite level, averaging 26.4 points, 5.1 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 4.8 three-pointers made per game, and he's the biggest reason the Dubs have a chance to make the playoffs.
Green was never a high scorer, but the 34-year-old veteran contributed in other ways and mostly played well, averaging 8.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting 49.7 percent and 39.5 percent from beyond the arc.
However, Green was suspended twice for on-court incidents. The first suspension was for five games when he brawled with Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, and the second indefinite suspension lasted 16 games after he punched Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic in the face.
Thompson, 34, struggled through one of the most disappointing seasons of his career, averaging 17.9 points per game, his worst output since his second NBA season in 2012-13.
He averaged 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 3.5 three-pointers per game. Thompson's field-goal percentage of .432 is the third-worst mark of his career, and his 38.7 percent three-point shooting percentage is his second-worst mark.
According to ESPN Kendra AndrewsThompson prefers to return to Golden State rather than sign elsewhere in free agency, but the offseason “arguably didn't give much assurance that there would be a resolution” between Thompson and the Warriors, which “rubbed Thompson the wrong way.”
The Warriors have some talented, young players in Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Potziemski, Moses Moody and Trace Jackson-Davis.
Letting Thompson walk would undoubtedly create more opportunities for those players, though it would hurt the Warriors in the short term.
Golden State is in win-now mode with veterans such as Curry, Green and Andrew Wiggins on the roster, and re-signing Thompson and his return to form will be a win-now move.
The Warriors have a delicate balance between trying to fight as hard as they can and trying to build for the future, and that could lead to their Big Three breaking out this season.
