NBA Rumors: Timberwolves wanted Klay Thompson all along
Now that the Golden State Warriors have come to terms with the fact they will likely have to guard Klay Thompson to acquire Minnesota Timberwolves’ star power forward Kevin Love – or any other star for that matter – the path to a Love deal may finally be clear.
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The Warriors and Timberwolves have been discussing a deal that would send Thompson, power forward David Lee and either a future pick or one of the Warriors’ two young talented forwards, Harrison Barnes or Draymond Green to the Timberwolves in exchange for Love and guard Kevin Martin.
Many believe the Warriors could avoid trading Thompson, but Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe reports the Timberwolves would not make a deal that didn’t include Thompson.
"And though recent reports indicated that Thompson only recently became part of the talks between the Warriors and Timberwolves, a league source stressed that Thompson has always been available.“That’s who [Minnesota] has always wanted from the beginning,” the source said. “Minnesota’s thing has always been about Klay Thompson.”…Reports have speculated that Minnesota would have tried deal for just Lee, Warriors forward Harrison Barnes, and possibly a future first-round draft pick.“If that was the case, a deal would have been done weeks ago,” the league source said. “That was never the deal.”"
Thompson averaged 18.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 44.4% from the field, 41.7% from beyond the arc and 79.5% from the charity stripe. In the postseason, he put up 16.4 points, 3.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting 40.8% from the field, 36.4% from three and 79.2% from the free throw line.