It appears the Golden State Warriors have lost out on Kevin Love for the second time this offseason. The team thought they have a deal in place for the forward prior to the NBA deadline when they offered up Harrison Barnes, David Lee and a first-round draft pick. The Minnesota Timberwolves wanted more and declined.Looking to enter the race once again, the Warriors were preparing to offer Klay Thompson, but Minnesota has instead agreed to a deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, leaving Golden State to pick up the pieces.
Thompson did not want to be traded. The guard was hoping to spend his offseason negotiating a new contract and competing for Team USA. Instead, he has done nothing but see his name mentioned in trade rumors of plenty as the Warriors attempted to deal for Love. Yahoo Sports is reporting the deal with Cleveland is all agreed to, leaving Thompson on the Warriors roster, but without a contract extension.
Several of the Golden State players were not in favor of giving up Thompson even if it meant getting Love in return. Stephen Curry has gotten used to sharing the backcourt with Thompson and thinks the pairing makes one of the better offenses in the league. He had no desire to see the roster shaken up in a trade.
"Every year there is some rumor in play and teams are trying to make a power move," Curry said, via Yahoo Sports. "But they've made a decision, at least it seems like they have, that Klay is an investment they don't want to give up. That speaks volumes to what he has been able to do in his career and his potential. I'm happy that he's my backcourt mate."
Andre Iguodala agrees with Curry, noting that it would not serve the team well to deal the young star. He certainly understands the interest in Thompson noting that he is one of the better players with a short-term contract right now, but he thinks the Warriors are better because the guard in on the floor.
"I want to clear that up right now. We should not trade Klay Thompson," Iguodala sai,d, via NBA Radio. "I tell Klay this every day. I text Klay and say, 'Don't worry. I'm your man. I'm going to make sure you get paid. I'm going to get you the max (contract). You'll be taken care of. Don't stress.' Klay really loves it in the Bay, and this is his first time going through trade rumors, and I've been through it many times, especially being in Philly. But Klay is my main man. I love Klay to death. One of my favorite people in the world even though he doesn't speak. But we're going to get Klay paid this year. He's going to be a Warrior for life."
So now Thompson will continue on fighting for a new contract. According to ESPN.com, the guard wants to get a max contract deal as soon as possible, something Golden State is not sold on offering just yet. If Thompson continues with the demands he might find himself traded next offseason.
