NBA Free Agency: Klay Thompson to remain in Golden State

Klay Thompson and the Golden State Warriors have reportedly reached a deal that would keep the All-Star shooting guard in the Bay Area.

Klay Thompson is staying with the Golden State Warriors.

According to Shams Charania of Stadium, the Warriors and Thompson have agreed to a five-year max contract worth $190 million. Charania has also reported that the Warriors brass will head to Los Angeles on Sunday to visit with the All-Star guard to get the deal done.

In a lot of ways, this wasn’t a shock to anyone.

Thompson has long wanted to stay in Golden State, but with both he and Kevin Durant becoming unrestricted free agents this summer, there was some worry within the Thompson camp that the Warriors would ask him to take a pay cut in order to try to retain Durant.

With that, reports flew that Thompson was considering holding free agency meetings with the Los Angeles Clippers, who have the cap space to offer max contracts to two superstars. In the end, it was really all a bluff to see if the Warriors would pony up the money Thompson wanted to stay in the Bay Area.

They did.

Making it a bit easy on the Warriors side was the fact that Thompson wasn’t considered an All-NBA player this season, which would have Thompson to command a contract north of $200 million this summer. Since that didn’t happen, the Warriors were able to sign him to a cheaper max deal to keep the Splash Brothers around for the foreseeable future.

Some may read the Thompson deal as the Warriors giving up on the Durant sweepstakes, but that may not prove to be the case. The Warriors owners have deep pockets, and they have shown a willingness to pay to keep a winning core together. Thompson is one of those pieces.

Will Durant be the next?