Klay Thompson only has himself to blame as NBA star faces contract disaster

Klay Thompson has no one to blame but himself for how contract negotiations are going for him thus far in the offseason.

It was reported that Thompson had grown " extremely frustrated" with how the Warriors have handled his contract negotiations, especially as the team looks for the veteran to return to the Bay Area on a team-friendly deal of around two years. Thompson reportedly has been looking for at least a three-year deal, though how much per year has varied, since early on in the 2023-24 NBA season.

Because of how frustrated he has become with Golden State, the star deleted all mention of the Warriors from his Instagram account, save for one sponsored post. The Athletic has also reported that conversations between the guard and Golden State are "frozen," and other teams, such as the Orlando Magic, have yet to make an offer that entices the 3-point specialist to leave.

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That said, despite how Thompson might feel about the Warriors' approach to the contract negotiations, he has to understand that he does not have any right to be frustrated by the team that drafted him. By all accounts, the 34-year-old is not the player he once was and it showed.

Before the season, the Warriors discussed a deal with Thompson for two years worth $48 million. Those discussions went nowhere, and the two sides played the season under the assumption a deal would be made that would reflect how much Thompson is worth.

And that is exactly how it played out. The Warriors and Thompson shelved conversations and both sides saw that the 34-year-old no longer was the difference maker he once was just two seasons ago.

This version of Thompson, having had two years to recover from his Achilles and ACL injuries, was a step slower on defense, unable to keep his man in front of him. Though he still had the length to contest shots, players blew by Thompson with alarming regularity.

To compensate, Thompson attempted to remind everyone he was still a lethal threat on the offensive end. Except, he took a step back in that department as well. While his overall percentages were decent, they were well below the standard he set before. Oftentimes, the 34-year-old would force the issue.

Instead of letting the game come to him, Thompson would drive to the basket among the trees or, worse, attempt to shoot a highly contested shot, hoping it would go in. Because of how inconsistent Thompson was on the end of the floor, head coach Steve Kerr elected to have Thompson come off the bench in hopes that having the sharpshooter face second-string players would help.

That led to Thompson averaging the lowest amount of points per game (17.9) in over eight years - when he was just in his second year in the league. Additionally, his 38.7 percent 3-point percentage last season is the worst he's ever shot from behind the arc, aside from the 2021-22 season which saw him return from his aforementioned lower leg injuries.

After an inconsistent season, Thompson - a noted playoff performer - had a chance to redeem himself against the Sacramento Kings in the Play-In Game. Instead, the 34-year-old had arguably the worst performance of his career, playoffs or otherwise, as he scored four points, going 0-of-10 shooting from the field (and 0-of-6 on his 3-point attempts) to go along with four rebounds and one assist as the Warriors were trounced , 118-94, by the Kings.

Father Time waits for no athlete and it was clear during the 2023-24 season that Thompson was the next player to be affected by the effects of time. Instead of accepting who he now is as a player, Thompson tried to remind fans, opposing teams, and executives what he could do, leading to disastrous consequences.

Despite this, it has been reported that Thompson is not looking for a pay cut and wants a long-term commitment, similar to the contracts the Warriors handed out to Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins. Even with how conversations have played out, what with the star guard expressing his frustration, Kerr maintains the Warriors want Thompson back in the Bay Area, factoring in what kind of player he will be, considering the precipitous drop-off in production last season.

"What I do know is Klay has been such an integral part of everything around here. Obviously a multi-time champion, but even more than that, someone who has such a great connection with the Bay Area, with the franchise, with his teammates," Kerr said to Jim Rome . "So we want Klay back desperately. I want him back desperately. And we will have our conversations and he's got to make whatever decision he makes, but we really want him back. He's Klay Thompson."

Whatever Thompson wants to do will be his choice. However, it is best to remember that if his next contract is not what he wants, he has no one else to blame but himself.