Klay Thompson (Photo : Getty Images)
The Golden State Warriors could be a possible destination for Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried albeit at the expense of Klay Thompson.
The Warriors could be a potential landing spot for Kenneth Faried, according to Tim Hart of Sports Illustrated's Fansided. In Hart's trade scenario, the Warriors would send receive Faried, Gary Harris and Jameer Nelson for Thompson, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston.
"Steph Curry's contract is up after this coming season. He will be due for an enormous pay raise. With the addition of Kevin Durant, the Warriors simply will not be able to afford keeping all of their starters. Trading away Klay Thompson is probably their best option, as Steph Curry and Draymond Green are simply too valuable," Hart wrote.
Faried would give the Warriors an athletic forward fit to the team's brand of basketball. Faried, who averaged 12.5 points and 8.7 rebound with the Nuggets, could add depth to the Warriors aging frontcourt.
Harris, on the other hand, may not be an outside threat yet, but his defensive upside should complement well in an offensive-laden backcourt rotation, while Nelson would be a solid backup PG to Curry.
However, while trading Thompson would clear up plenty of cap room for Curry's well-deserved pay-raise, saving roughly $15 million in cap space, it is unlikely the Warriors would trade Thompson at this point, especially after a successful stint at the Rio Olympics, where the two-time All-Star showed he could effectively play alongside Durant.
Thompson averaged career highs last season for the Warriors, scoring 22.2 points a game on 17.3 field goal attempts, including 8.1 from beyond the arc. But Thompson's value is more than being a sharp-shooter and a threat from the three-point line, his defense and motion on the court help the Warriors become a very effective team.
With Durant in their lineup, Thompson may no longer become the second best scorer in Golden State, but it is hardly an issue for the 26-year-old shooting guard, insisting that he is willing to sacrifice for the better good of the team, embodying the Warriors' motto of "Strength In Numbers."
"I know how good I am in this league. I'm not going to judge my performance off numbers or anything. If we get wins, it really doesn't matter, man. It's all good," Thompson said, reports ESPN.
"I look at a guy like Manu Ginobili who came off the bench almost his entire career. Never averaged more than 20 points a game, but he's a four-time champion, you know? He could have easily been on another team and averaged 25 a game, but he sacrificed to win, and that's what I expect to do next year. I don't care about averaging 25 or even 20. I just want to finish it out and get back to the Finals and enjoy that ride."
Likewise, it may not be a good idea for the Warriors trading away Iguodala and Livingston, who have been consistently contributing off the bench for Golden State.
After losing key second unit players this offseason, keeping Iguodala and Livingston would probably be the best option for the Warriors in maintaining the team's depth. Iguodala, who won NBA Finals MVP in 2015, is expected to have a solid role as backup to Durant, while Livingston has proven he could be an effective reliever for Curry.
Surely, the Warriors are facing a daunting task of keeping their core roster intact come next year's free agency, with Curry set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2017, as well as Durant, who has a player option in his two-year deal with the Warriors. But if the Warriors could win a championship, as many expect they would, retaining all of their stars won't be too much of an issue for Golden State.
