What Bob Myers would tell Klay Thompson about his future with the Warriors 👀

And what's going to happen this summer is that Clay Thompson is going to have a choice, right, Brian? Right, so Clay Thompson is going to have a choice. The Warriors are probably going to offer him less money to stay, and he could take less money to stay in Golden State, or he could leave, make more money, and go elsewhere because he is still a very, very good player, both for Golden State and other places. But if he leaves that way, that will be received much, much differently, in my opinion, than if Golden State were to trade Clay Thompson. I don't even think it's consideration. I think they got 15 things on their plate that they're looking at, and trading Clay ain't one. I think they got much bigger things that they're trying to deal with. Like what? Honestly, you know, Wiggins had one of his best games he's played of the season last night. Right. You know, what you're hoping for is, how can we get him to keep doing that? How can we get Chris Paul back? He was working out before the game last night. I was watching some of his workouts on our ESPN cameras. He's getting back. Like, that's what they got to try to do. They're trying. They're trying, Perk. They're trying, Richard. That's what they're doing. Everybody's trying. I try to go on a diet every damn day. Trying is a lie. Getting it done is a lie. But getting it done and holding yourself accountable is another thing. So I'm going to go down the road right now. Do you have Golden State in the title contention? I do not. Yes or no? Do you, Malika? No. Do you? Yes or no? Yes or yes? OK. Do you? So what are we talking about? Since we're talking about Steph Curry, my point is, when we talk about Steph Curry, we're saying you have to build around him. Because we put Steph Curry in the same conversation as LeBron James when we talk about where they're at and how they're always competing for titles. And all I'm saying is LeBron is going to speak up, whether it's subliminal messages, passive-aggressive messages, whatever. Direct messages. Steph has to do the same thing. OK, Perk. I am in agreement with you that the players that they currently have, they are not a championship contender. I agree that they have a big decision with Klay Thompson coming up. I 100% agree. The only thing that complicates this is not necessarily Klay's legacy, in my opinion. That is already solidified. We know he is a legend. He's an NBA legend. So that's not the issue. The issue is, how do you take Klay and the pieces around and put players around one of the greatest players that we have ever seen, that that's not necessarily championship, that gets them in the postseason with a puncher's chance to be able to go and win some playoff series. That is the biggest issue right now. And they're dealing with multiple issues. That's what I'm talking about. That's why I'm agreeing with you. It's just amazing to me, though, and if you're a Warriors fan, to have an owner that's willing to spend $400 million on a team that's 11th and not telling Mike Dunleavy Jr. or anybody, we have to cut money. That's pretty unprecedented in this NBA, in the modern NBA, because what it tells you, Malika, is that they think they're good enough. You heard what Steve Kerr said, that he thinks this team can do something special when healthy. They have been healthy at times and had a couple good runs, but they've also had some bad stretches. So I guess, much like the Lakers, this team feels like, if we're going to do something and something needs to be done, it's not going to be now. It's going to be basically in the offseason. And that's not a bad strategy. The people that would be critical of that would say, what about Steph? What about Steph Curry? And the counterpoint to that would be, if you're in that front office, is, well, who are we supposed to get? The opportunity for Siakam, for Enoji Enobi are gone. So if you look at it now and you say, well, who's the best player on the market? Deontay Murray, is that the best player? I don't think he moves the needle a tremendous amount for the Warriors. I don't think a lot of people would believe that as well. So you're here. And again, some of these teams are saying, this is what we're going to be, because we don't like our optionality. Or maybe they try to kick the tires on what Woge reported, which is Olenek and some other guys. I don't think that would have changed their world either. So I don't see a lot. 18 minutes, 37, 36 seconds, maybe some small stuff. Yeah, it's coming down. Bob, I got a question for you. Perk and I have been arguing for the last two hours about trading Klay. You understand this. He had an opportunity to re-sign him. You've been in the front office for so many years. When you have a player that you feel like might be playing below his capability, some of it could be the contract. How do you kind of weigh that with a player like Klay, a legacy player who's struggling, in my opinion, because of other things, but also maybe because he's getting older? How do you handle something like that? Or how have you handled that in the past? It's hard. You played. You both played. You're facing your own mortality. You can both relate to it, I imagine. I can't, but I've seen it with players. That's a huge adjustment for you, RJ, when you were playing to decide, I'm going to go to Cleveland and play with LeBron and change everything about my game to still be effective. So there's an inflection point in every player's career where they say, the way I used to do it doesn't work anymore. Now, if you're the Warriors and you're talking about trading him, look, it's a cutthroat business. I don't think there's any desire to trade Klay Thompson, but if there was some great deal, that's part of the thing you got to look at. I don't think the Warriors see a great deal, and Klay Thompson has been effective at many times. They still think he can play better than he's played. And the idea of trading Klay Thompson would be so disruptive to that team, just the locker room. The whole infrastructure of the Warriors would make a huge pivot, a huge change, and I don't think they feel like there's any reason to do that. Again, if there was some awesome automatic deal, it's a business, right? I mean, the only guy that probably would withstand is Curry. He's not getting moved. Everybody knows that. Everybody understands it. But the idea of just trading Klay for a lateral move, I don't think it makes sense. I don't think they think it makes sense. Well, Bob, I'm glad you answered that question from the general manager mind of Bob Myers. But people forget that before you was a GM, you were actually an agent. And Bob, you were my agent. So if you were Klay's agent right now, what would you be telling Klay? Because again, I feel like this, this is Klay's last opportunity to get his bag, the big bag that he's actually searching for. And so if you're his agent, what is your advice to Klay Thompson? Yeah, those were good days, Perk. Remember, we had some good times together. You know, agent, oh yeah, we can talk about it off air. But look, I would call him and say, what do you want, Klay? Do you want to be moved? And that happens more than people understand. The agent, oftentimes people will be clamoring and saying, trade this guy, trade that guy. And the agent will call and say, hey, what do you want? Oftentimes the player says, I don't want to deal with getting traded. I got my kids at school, I got family. I don't want to find a new house. I just want to finish up the season here. I believe strongly Klay Thompson is sending messages, not that he needs to, that he doesn't want to be traded. So when you talk about money, Perk, the question would be, are you okay going into the off season without an extension, which it seems like it'll happen for Klay? And then it's, do you feel like you'd rather finish out this year somewhere else? Don't think Klay, he said that last night, no reason, doesn't want to do that. So then all you can do as Klay's representative is say, hey, look, finish out the best you can. If you finish well, the Warriors are more inclined to pay you as are other teams. So that's how I would look at it, whether it's Klay or any player, is get the feedback from the player. I'm sure that's happening all across the league. Agents saying, how bad do you want out? And some players, Perk, are saying, get me out of here. I do not want to be here. They're not going to pay me. I'm not playing enough. This team ain't going anywhere. Klay Thompson, I imagine a scenario where he might get through the end of the season and even say, I'd rather finish here and give up some money. The guy's made, I don't know what, 300 million, I don't, $250 million, something, 200 million. I mean, I'm always amazed that players, this is going to sound bad. You got to tell me, RJ or Perk, that players don't sometimes take less money. With the amount of money, I mean, RJ, you made a ton of money. Perk, I got you a lot of money. I hope you save it. I got you some money. I don't think the jewelry these two are wearing, Bob. No, look, and Bob, and Bob, I will say this. Bob was the first player. I played with him my 12th year before they traded me off to Utah. And Bob, you were the first person to ask me, how much longer do you want to play? Like, you asked me that in my exit meeting. And that was the first time I started questioning my mortality as a player. It's like, OK, I have a decision to make. And yes, I have taken less money to stay in places. I have said, you want to offer me more money? I don't want to go and help young players. I don't want to go do that. I got offered more money to stay in Dallas before I ultimately moved to Cleveland. And it just depends on what you want. For a player like Clay, who's won all the championships, he's a first ballot Hall of Famer. Maybe he's like, I want the bag. Or maybe he's like, hey, I will take less money to stay here and finish my career and be one of the few players that can start and finish your career. But it's going to mean he's got to take less money. Because his market to the Warriors is different than his market value in creation.