Former Cavs champ says a team will pay Klay Thompson ‘crazy’ just to not be on the Warriors

Former Cleveland Cavaliers big man Channing Frye is of the belief that Klay Thompson will not be playing for the Golden State Warriors after this season.

Back in December, ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported that NBA executives were wondering if Golden State would ever trade Thompson.

Thompson has had one of his worst seasons in recent memory. In 54 games played with the Warriors so far in the 2023-24 regular season, he is averaging 17.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game on 42.1 percent shooting from the field and 37.6 percent from 3-point range. His scoring average is the lowest it has been since the 2012-13 season, when Thompson was in just his second season in the NBA.

Plus, Thompson’s current field-goal percentage is the lowest of his career, though only by a slight margin. He shot 42.2 percent from the floor in the 2012-13 regular season.

While Thompson has had an underwhelming season by his standards, he starred off the bench for the Warriors in their most recent game versus the Washington Wizards on Tuesday. He dropped a team-high 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field and 6-of-11 from deep. Thompson also contributed three rebounds and four assists.

His performance against the Wizards marked his second game in a row with 20-plus points. The five-time All-Star dropped 23 points against the Denver Nuggets on Feb. 25.

The Warriors have been playing winning basketball over the past few weeks after getting off to a slow start to the season from a collective standpoint. Golden State has won eight of its last 10 games. At 30-27, it is two-and-a-half games behind the Dallas Mavericks for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.

Thompson will hope to put together his third standout scoring performance in a row when the Warriors play the New York Knicks on the road on Thursday. The Knicks currently sit as the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference standings and were handed a loss by the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday.