On Friday, one day after Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson shot 1-of-10 from the field in the team’s loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder, ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins floated the Miami Heat as a possible trade destination for the 33-year-old.
Is it time for the Warriors to consider trading Klay? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/g4drRZOyXx
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 17, 2023
“What the Miami Heat may have to offer, we don’t know,” Perkins began. “Okay, the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler, Bam [Adebayo] and a Klay Thompson with a Erik Spoelstra, again, when you watchin a guy like Klay Thompson — one of the best shooters to ever touch the damn basketball, to ever touch the damn — that is in a slump like he’s in, it’s more to than just shooting the basketball. He’s mentally not there.”
The former Boston Celtics big man also mentioned the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers as possible destinations for Thompson.
Thompson is having the worst shooting season of his NBA career so far. In 12 appearances with the Warriors, he’s shooting 40.1 percent from the floor and 32.9 percent from behind the 3-point arc, both of which are career-lows.
Additionally, he is averaging a mere 13.8 points per game, which is his lowest scoring average since his rookie season, the 2011-12 season.
Thompson’s unspectacular play this season has played a part in the Warriors’ slow start. The team owns a subpar 6-7 record. After starting the season out 6-2, Golden State has since lost five games in a row.
The Warriors haven’t won a game since they beat Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons by a final score of 120-109 back on Nov. 6, which was over a week ago. The Pistons own the worst record in the NBA right now at 2-10.
In the team’s most recent loss against the Thunder, the Warriors were without both Draymond Green and Stephen Curry. The former is serving a five-game suspension for getting into it with Minnesota Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert back on Nov. 14, while the latter sat out due to a knee injury.
With Curry and Green out of the lineup for Golden State and Thompson struggling to shoot the ball, Jonathan Kuminga ended up leading the team in scoring against the Thunder. He finished with 21 points and shot 8-of-13 from the field in 27 minutes of playing time.
Thompson and the Warriors will try to get back to their winning ways when they take on the Thunder once again on Saturday.
