Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson not an elite player?
By Bryan Rose
Depending on who you believe, the Golden State Warriors were not willing to include Klay Thompson in a trade for All-Star power forward Kevin Love. Given that, the two sides weren’t able to make a deal and the Cleveland Cavaliers then put themselves in position to trade for Love.
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Of course, there are some that say the Warriors were willing to include Thompson in the alleged trade, but regardless he’s still on the Golden State roster and doesn’t look to be going anywhere in the near future.
That’s great news for fans in the Bay Area, but what’s to come from Klay Thompson? He’s soon to be eligible for a contract extension though it’s believed he’ll test restricted free agency as he believes he’s worth more than the Warriors are willing to pay. Meanwhile, Golden State is likely fine with that as they’d prefer the market set itself for Thompson, especially given he thinks he’s an elite player.
Somebody who questions such as sentiment is Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders, who wonders if Klay Thompson really is elite as some believe.
"And simply averaging 19 ppg doesn’t mean much when he actually is not that efficient with a TS% around the league average despite all the 3s. He doesn’t get to the line, doesn’t shoot great on 2s, and takes a lot more of them than you think. He also does very little else in the box score, although his passing and ability to put the ball on the floor are improving going back to the middle of last year."
The definition of an elite player is really subject to opinion, though most would likely consider an elite player to be a player you could use as a building block for a franchise. Is Klay Thompson that player? He might become such, but right now that doesn’t appear to be the case.