Klay Thompson will be the first of a wave of All-Star free agents to hit the market in 2019, but even as the Golden State Warriors ride another playoff wave into becoming one of the last four teams standing, the hunger for more hasn't ceased for the sharpshooter.
Thompson is one of the building blocks of the organization, before the arrival of Kevin Durant, before the Steve Kerr era and before the discovery of Draymond Green. The Washington State marksman knows his place in the history of this franchise and couldn't see himself not being part of it in the future.
“I was part of building this culture,” Thompson told Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report. “It wouldn't be leaving everything I worked for behind, but it would be a whole new start. I was one of the pioneers of this. I'm one of the longest-tenured players here besides Steph, so I'm very prideful of the turnaround the Warriors have made.”
While the likes of Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant have taken over the face of the franchise, Thompson has been just as pivotal to the engineering of this team, becoming not only a key cog in the equation, but somewhat of a cult personality with his China adventures.
“Just because I'm not the face of the franchise doesn't mean I'm not recognized for it,” said Thompson. “Real fans and the people in the organization and my peers around the league, they see the work I've put in and realize I've been a huge component to the success here for the last five, six, seven years, so I have an identity here. It would be hard for me to envision going anywhere else.”
The 28-year-old will be the first of many pieces that will have to fall in place to keep this core intact, likely costing ownership a lot of extra dollars going into the luxury tax.
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