Klay Thompson “will listen” to offers from the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers if the Golden State Warriors do not offer him a max-contract when free agency opens, according to Brad Turner of the L.A. Times.
The maximum contract Thompson is eligible for is a $189.7-million, five-year deal.
Thompson, who was drafted 11th overall by the Warriors in the 2011 NBA draft, averaged 21.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 78 regular-season appearances for Golden State last season.
The 29-year-old Los Angeles native has spent his entire eight-year NBA career with the Warriors, appearing in five all-star games and winning three NBA Championships.
During this year’s NBA Finals, Thompson suffered a torn ACL that will force him to miss a significant portion of this upcoming season.
The Clippers are rumoured to be significant players when free agency opens on July 6, given that they only have $55 million of salary tied up, well shy of the league’s projected $109 million cap for 2019.
The Lakers’s salary cap situation is less fluid. But after Anthony Davis waived his $4 million trade-kicker and it was announced that Mo Wagner, Isaac Bonga and Jemerrio Jones would be traded to the Washington Wizards as part of the Davis deal, the Lakers managed to engineer enough space to offer a $32 million max-contract as well.
The NBA’s free agent moratorium period begins on June 30 at 6 p.m. ET, with deals officially being able to be signed once free agency opens.
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