The Los Angeles Clippers have been open with their need to upgrade their roster in time to redeem themselves in the next NBA season. With the core team composed of Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan failing to impress in the previous season, Doc Rivers is said to be targeting a Klay Thompson trade with the Golden State Warriors. An NBA trade involving half of the Splash Brothers, with Stephen Curry as the other one, the Los Angeles Clippers could give the Draymond Green team a deal that could potentially clear up their salary cap space especially after the Kevin Durant free agency campaign.
The Golden State Warriors had a remarkable season last year, beating the NBA record of the Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan with 72 wins. However, the Stephen Curry team fell short in Game 7 of the NBA Finals and lost the title to the Cleveland Cavaliers of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Hence, it comes as no surprise that the Kevin Durant free agency attracted the team and pushed them to exhaust all means to sign the former Oklahoma City Thunder star.
Much to the chagrin of Russell Westbrook and Steven Adams, the Kevin Durant free agency train indeed stopped with the Golden State Warriors. With a super team now in the hands of Stephen Curry, another problem pops out. Reports note that the entry of Kevin Durant in the Golden State Warriors makes Klay Thompson seem redundant. That is, fans of the Dub Nation are reportedly pushing for a Klay Thompson trade to clear up cap space and sign another star who can play a different position.
"I feel kind of disrespected that people keep using the term sacrifice to describe me and describe us," said Klay Thompson of the comments on the roster changes. The Golden State Warriors star added, "We all want to see each other do well. But I'm not sacrificing [expletive], because my game isn't changing. I'm still going to try to get buckets, hit shots, come off screens. I want to win and have a fun time every game we play."
The comments of Klay Thompson came after reports surfaced that he will be assigned the sixth man role. That is, Kevin Durant will be expected to take over the starting position in the Golden State Warriors alongside Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. The recent performance of Kevin Durant, wherein he and Russell Westbrook worked together to almost unseat the Andre Iguodala squad as kings of the Western Conference, strengthens the NBA rumors that a Klay Thompson trade is on its way.
However, it looks like Kevin Durant himself refuted the NBA rumors. According to the former Oklahoma City Thunder star, the team will still depend on Klay Thompson in the same way as the past seasons.
He shared, "We want Klay to stay Klay. We don't want him to change. The games dictate where the shots come from. I may shoot 12 shots one night; Klay may shoot eight or nine shots one night, and Steph may shoot 25 shots one night. And it could be a different flow another night."
