Warriors' offseason roundup: What's the latest on Klay Thompson, Moses Moody and more? (2024)

SAN FRANCISCO — One of the few benefits of an NBA season ruined in April is extra time for a front office. The Golden State Warriors have had several condensed offseason transaction periods, transitioning from an exhaustive NBA Finals run to the draft to free agency in about a week. Last year, they pivoted in mid-May, which is enough runway to decompress, assess and plot.

But an extra month is an extra month. Nobody asks for less time to plan a project. That’s been the prevailing vibe around both the Warriors and the Sacramento Kings in the aftermath of their recent eliminations. Large decisions are looming, but nothing about them feels rushed.

Let’s dig into the latest surrounding the Warriors.

Klay Thompson’s future

Despite public declarations from all the figurehead Warriors about their desire to bring Thompson back and confidence he’ll ultimately return, there is no certainty behind the scenes that Thompson’s future in the Bay Area is a foregone conclusion.

His season ended bitterly. He was pretty transparent through the middle months about his struggle transitioning to the next phase of his career. There were plenty of highs — he made the fourth-most 3s in the NBA, shooting 38.7 percent — but the lows (like the 0-for-10 elimination night and the midseason benching) weren’t the easiest for him to absorb.

In Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr’s exit interview, he mentioned the idea of Thompson coming off the bench next season, allowing his minutes and usage to be lessened. That makes sense in the grand scheme for a 34-year-old wing who has rehabbed two devastating leg injuries and has plenty of backcourt depth behind him.

But is that what Thompson wants? His durability is a point of pride. He said his favorite aspect of his season was his availability: 77 games played at 29.7 minutes per contest. He has not hinted at a desire for that to diminish. His future role will presumably be part of his free-agent negotiations and ultimate choice.

Thompson isn’t in a rush. He made that clear in a begrudging exit interview last week, which included him looking at his watch to remind the world that he still had plenty of time before a decision needed to be made.

Here are Klay Thompson’s free agency related answers today

“What’s up with y’all not wanting to live in the present? Ridiculous.”

“Well, considering it’s April 17th, I don’t have to pivot that quickly. When’s free agency? July 1st? I got some time.” pic.twitter.com/G7FFlefdnL

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— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 17, 2024

There’s a sense that Thompson is really taking these extra couple months to assess his future and decide whether he wants to continue with the Warriors, regardless of contract offer. What else is out there from a money, role and lifestyle standpoint? How much of a priority do the Warriors make him in the lead up? What is their final offer and how does it compare?

An offseason ago, there was plenty of wonder about whether Draymond Green still had a significant market in free agency. He ultimately squeezed a four-year, $100 million contract out of the Warriors, with a player option on the final season, because outside suitors presented Green with a realistic exit strategy. Memphis, as he has confirmed, was a real option.

We’ll see what type of interest Thompson is able to generate. His prime is over, but his gravity, toughness, shooting, defensive competitiveness and brand still combine into a package that could make sense at the right price in the right market with the right surrounding teammates. The Orlando Magic buzz has been out there. The Philadelphia 76ers have plenty of flexibility. What are the Dallas Mavericks planning? It could all be dependent on how the playoffs end for those teams.

So much of free agency is already decided prior to July 1. That’s been obvious for years. The Kings explored various avenues and possible power forward upgrades, but ended up extending Harrison Barnes’ contract on June 29, the day before free agency opened.

Thompson is eligible for an extension currently. He could’ have signed one at any point during the season, but the Warriors — after a preseason offer was declined — never re-engaged with Thompson.

If he were to sign with another team, it can’t happen until free agency starts on June 30. But it feels like we’ll have either an inkling or an answer about which direction it is heading prior because, if the Warriors ultimately prioritize Thompson, an extension can be agreed upon before free agency. Meanwhile, their other big contract question — Chris Paul’s non-guaranteed $30 million — guarantees on June 28 (though it could theoretically be pushed back if both sides agree).

If the Warriors use Paul’s contract in a trade that brings back a large salary, it’d be a pre-free agency signal that Thompson could be on the move. Warriors owner Joe Lacob has expressed an expectation that they’ll duck the second apron and even a desire to get under the luxury tax (though there’s no official edict). If Paul’s contract is shed entirely, that generates room for a Thompson contract that still keeps their books manageable.

What’s next for Moses Moody

Moses Moody’s future isn’t completely tied to Thompson’s. When Andrew Wiggins missed a week late in the season, Moody started at small forward and performed well. They stuck him on Jalen Brunson in New York and his isolation work was the story postgame. There is a world where Moody can fit in as a higher-minute rotation player (and perhaps even a starter) with Thompson still on the roster.

But something has to give. Thompson’s departure would open up playing time for Moody. So would an Andrew Wiggins trade, assuming it doesn’t bring back another veteran that directly blocks Moody’s path to an elusive nightly role.

“He’s improved. He’s gotten a lot better,” Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy said. “I think any issues with him playing, frankly, is a result of our depth, which is also a good thing. But in the end, you’re right, he hasn’t probably played as much as we would like and there hasn’t been a clear enough path. So that will be something we’ll look at. I think it’s really important coming into Year 4 for him that there is some reasonable playing time available for him where he can impact our team and be out there and continue to improve. I think that’s a fair thing.”

Moody is uniquely mature and understanding for a young player in his situation. When given court time, he’s consistently risen to the moment. He worked his way into the rotation in the conference finals his rookie season against Dallas, hopping Damion Lee. In his second playoffs, he climbed ahead of veteran options and was a major part of the second-round rotation against the Los Angeles Lakers. In the Play-In Tournament game in Sacramento last week, Moody started the game out of the rotation but was eventually called upon. He scored 16 points in 15 minutes.

Again, he enters the offseason unsure whether he will be planted on the end of the bench when his fourth season begins. Kerr has shared areas of needed improvement for Moody. Both mentioned he must make decisions and get his shot off quicker.

But Moody, in a reflective exit interview, said he is very happy with the progress of his game. Like Jonathan Kuminga, Moody is eligible for an extension this summer and will be a restricted free agent the following offseason, assuming the Warriors extend him an $8.1 million qualifying offer before free agency in 2025. It’s time to figure out his place in the league with extended opportunity.

“I feel really good about (my game),” Moody said. “If I get to listening to other people then you can kind of feel like it’s a cycle to where like, ‘oh, you don’t play, you play good, you don’t play.’ That can be frustrating if you’re looking at it like that, but that’s through other people’s lens.

“I now don’t really look at things through other people’s perspective and understand it for myself and see the growth that I’ve made each year. I’ve spent a lot of time in the G League my first year, and not a lot of time on the court, stretches of not playing well. The next year I went to the G twice, had some really good stretches. Early on, I kind of let the situation stifle me to a point to where I wasn’t as confident in what I had going on.

“But I was able to figure out and get through it. So that was a good year. Then this year, I feel like I was solid all the way through. The situation was what it was at times. There were things I can’t control. But whenever I got the opportunity to play, I feel like I played well. I had to figure some things out through out the season that made me better and more consistent. But mentally I feel like this is the best that I’ve been so far. I’ve scored more, percentages or whatever, those been (have) solid. (There) has been progress and (part of that is) not listening to everybody else and thinking that I’m running on the treadmill.”

Bargain shopping

An under-discussed aspect of the Warriors’ disappointing season is their whiffs in the minimum market. They left their 15th roster spot open for tax-saving purposes and used their two veteran-minimum slots on Cory Joseph and Dario Šarić, foregoing other candidates like Malik Beasley.

Joseph was ineffective and traded away at the deadline for some savings and a second-round pick. Šarić profiled as a high-value bargain at the time of his signing and worked well in the early months, igniting his pick-and-roll, pick-and-pop chemistry with Paul from their Phoenix days.

But Šarić’s impact faded quickly when Paul got injured. He was buried in the rotation by March and the Warriors didn’t get anything out of him when it mattered, similar to the JaMychal Green miss a season before.

It will be hard to replicate the Otto Porter Jr. and Gary Payton II minimum home runs from the title season. Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis covered up the late-rotation depth concerns with their immediate readiness. But the Warriors will be in a better place if they get better value from their bargain shopping this summer.

Speaking of Payton, he indicated in his exit interview a desire to possibly rework his current deal and extend on a longer-term contract. Payton has leverage, carrying a $9.1 million player option for next season.

If he opts out and extends at a lower number, that’ll generate extra space for the Warriors to operate under the second apron or tax, while providing Payton (who has struggled with injury issues) with some more long-term security.

Looking forward

We can now close the book on the set of transactions sparked by that Kevin Durant/D’Angelo Russell sign-and-trade with Brooklyn in the summer of 2019. The positive benefits were obvious for the Warriors. Russell was flipped for Wiggins and the draft pick that became Kuminga.

But this was a negative: To make room for Russell under the hard cap (triggered by the sign-and-trade), the Warriors were forced to move the final season of Andre Iguodala’s contract to Memphis, attaching a top-four protected 2024 first-rounder.

It has since bounced from Memphis to Boston to Portland. The Portland Trail Blazers will likely get a valuable pick. The Warriors would retain the pick if they jump into the top-four at the lottery next month, but there is only a 3.4 percent chance of that happening. Otherwise, the Trail Blazers will get the 14th overall pick in June’s draft from the Warriors.

(Top photo of Klay Thompson: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)