NBA Trade Rumors: 5 Klay Thompson replacements Warriors should acquire
By Mike Luciano
The Golden State Warriors lost Klay Thompson for the season, leaving them thin at wing.
The Golden State Warriors are expected by many to get back to the postseason after finishing 2020 with the worst record in the league, but they were just thrown a major curveball after Andrian Wojnarowski confirmed that star guard Klay Thompson will miss his second season in a row after tearing his Achilles in a workout.
With the 2020 NBA Draft officially in the rearview mirror, the Warriors will need to think fast when it comes to finding someone to replace him. Look for one of these five players to potentially end up in San Francisco via either free agency or a trade.
The Warriors need to add one of these five players to replace Klay Thompson
Brooklyn Nets. 5. player. SG. Joe Harris. 147. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis
While many around the league are expecting the Nets to resign their sharpshooter to a multi-year contract, the Warriors might need to break the bank for Harris, as he is the best shooter on the free-agent market. Harris, a former G League player with the Cleveland Cavaliers, set a new career-high with 14.5 points per game last year, and he has shot 43 percent from 3-point range during his three years with the Nets. Before he is anything else, Thompson is an elite shooter, and Harris could help them offset some of the scoring productivity they will lose with Thompson on the mend.
As good as Steph Curry is and as high as former first-rounder Jordan Poole’s ceiling may be, Thompson created a gigantic hole, and the Warriors can plug it up by outbidding the Nets for the rights to one of the game’s truly elite shooters.
Harris is, at best, an average defender, and a team in Golden State that isn’t going to scare anyone on that end would get weaker with Harris playing heavy minutes, but there are very few players in the league that can be considered Thompson’s equal or superior when it comes to shooting, and Harris is one of them. If Harris takes to Thompson’s catch-and-shoot role, which he filled expertly in Brooklyn, Golden State should be able to keep this rickety operation together as they push for the playoffs once again.