Trade & FA 2024-25:

[dirkfansince1998]

If the stories are to be believed I can actually see why Dallas would be interested in Klay. I live in the Bay Area and still keep up with the Warriors as well. It's true that Klay can't move the way he could 4-5 years ago. It happens. He has recovered from the Knee and Achilles just fine.

Coming off of a screen there is no one more deadly. The guy is just a pure sniper. He is the kind of sniper I was talking about that the Mavs desperately need. THJ has never played as well as Klay even now. At 33 Klay still plays better defense than THJ ever has. He's an above average defender despite what the stats show. He has the length and BBIQ to still play solid defense.

There aren't any videos from this season but here is one from the 21-22 season when Klay was 31-32. He can't move his feet laterally like he used to but he still has no problem moving the ball handler into help forcing his will on them. He is very strong and can defend well in the post also. He is strong, active hands, good anticipation, and most importantly his BBIQ is off the charts. Those guys age well.

The reason this season wasn't as good for him and the Warriors was the addition of CP3. They are also trying to work in young players since the core is getting older. The shooting is not something that will go on him. Granted, he is going to have a couple of duds a year like any shooter but he always bounces back next game. For example, he had an 0-10 night last season and followed it up 25 shooting 50% from 3.

As a starter he can comfortably give you 28-29 minutes a night of solid 2 way play. He will also still have nights of 30+ points as well. He had a season high 35 last year. Most of the time you'll get 18-25 points a game from him with solid defense. His passing is also heavily underrated. He moves the ball to the right man.

Another thing that is not being recognized here by fans is that this guy has ice in his veins. He's got 4 titles. He is not going to flinch. He will stay cool headed and be a serious calming influence on the young guys including Luka. He brings a championship swagger with him. Imagine the influence he could have on guys like PJ, Grimes, O-Max, Hardy, etc. It would also set it up where you can put him at the 3 and mitigate the loss in speed. He generally plays the 3 anyway. That would have PJ at the 4. That's a very solid pairing.

The defense will get better alone due to teaching guys from his experience. The shooting of the team will likely improve as well. He is one of the best pure shooters of all time. That stuff tends to rub off.

The bench unit with CP3 was one of the few bright spots for the Warriors. So good that they even tried to start CP3 instead of Klay for a few weeks. Thompson stood out as the player with the worst plus/minus numbers on the team in any given role. Didn't work next to Curry/Draymond. Was even worse off the bench.
 
Not trying to be an asshole because it isn't really about you but I am so freakin done with the despite the numbers narrative. We have reached a point where the NBA/synergy is tracking everything. I can confirm my eyetest with his post defense numbers. Can look at the tracking numbers to confirm that he gets deflections or secures lose balls. Can look at his blow by %. Can look at his plus/minus impact.
There might be a case that one of those metrics is underrating Thompson's defensive abilities but when all of them paint the same picture and confirm the narrative that most Warriors related media outlets and my eyetest agree with I am inclined to believe that he isn't a good defender.

It's interesting that you mention his passing. From what I can tell his athletic decline hurt his decision making. He isn't able to attack close outs like he used to and the Warriors aren't running as much split action for him because teams aren't afraid of his ability to cut. Resulting in an even higher 3-point volume. More contested 3s.

What remains is the intangible part that you mentioned. His reputation. I think that no matter what happens Klay is always going to have a gravity that only a few select star players can match. No one is going to help off him. Even if he is only shooting 37-38% from 3 for the season. That's certainly a positive.