NBA
NBA Rumors: Thompson’s Camp is Frustrated
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated27 Oct 2023
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Klay Thompson’s camp is frustrated that the Golden State Warriors haven’t offered a maximum contract in their ongoing extension talks with Friday’s deadline nearing, sources told Yahoo Sports.
Thompson is seeking a maximum deal paying upward of $15 million per season, a source said. The Warriors have improved their offer to get in the vicinity but have not offered a full maximum contract, sources said.
Thompson is one of the best players eligible for a contract extension prior to the Oct. 31 deadline, and his camp has made it clear that they believe he’s a max player.
While it may seem like a no-brainer for the Warriors to offer a max deal to Thompson, Basketball Insiders’ Nate Duncan recently broke down why this is a tough call for Golden State. Not to mention, they are bidding against themselves at this point rather than letting the market determine Thompson’s worth.
Thompson averaged 18.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists last season, emerging as a key contributor for Golden State and one of the league’s better two-way shooting guards. He also was an important member of Team USA over the summer, helping the team win a gold medal during the FIBA World Cup.
If Thompson doesn’t get his contract extended, he’ll become a restricted free agent next offseason and would be highly coveted.
After undergoing surgery to repair a facial fracture, Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo is expected to miss a month of the season, a league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Oladipo, the 2014 runner-up for the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award, sustained an elbow to his head in practice on Thursday. He had the surgical procedure on Saturday.
Sources told Basketball Insiders that Oladipo took an accidental elbow from Dewayne Dedmon in practice, which is what led to the facial fracture.
Initially, the Magic announced that Oladipo would be out indefinitely, but Wojnarowski reported the one-month timetable after the surgery.
This is a big loss for Orlando, since Oladipo is expected to be one of their most important players this year. He was the Rookie of the Year runner-up last season, and will take on an even bigger role this season after the departure of Jameer Nelson and Arron Afflalo.
While Oladipo is out, expect rookie point guard Elfrid Payton to pick up the slack. Payton was the No. 10 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, and has played very well during the preseason. Some analysts are already mentioning Payton as a Rookie of the Year sleeper since he should get plenty of minutes and touches in Orlando, and this will be an opportunity for him to step up and show what he can do in Oladipo’s absence.
The New York Knicks are strongly considering parting ways with veteran forward Travis Outlaw, league sources told ESPNNewYork.com on Saturday.
Outlaw is owed $3 million this season. If the Knicks released him, they would still owe him his full salary. They also could dump him on another team via a trade.
This is somewhat shocking news, as the Knicks just acquired Outlaw in an August trade with the Kings.
However, it seems that they want to move on from Outlaw so that they have room for a non-guaranteed player to make the roster. Begley speculates that Travis Wear, an undrafted rookie out of UCLA who played for the Knicks in summer league, will make the team in Outlaw’s place.
Outlaw has averaged 8.5 points on 42.3-percent shooting, and 3.2 rebounds in 622 games (98 starts) over 11 seasons with the Blazers, Clippers, Nets and Kings.
Initially, it seemed like Wear was signed to be a part of the Knicks’ D-League affiliate, similar to Jordan Vandenberg, Langston Galloway and Orlando Sanchez. However, he has been impressive during camp and preseason play, which is why he may beat out Outlaw during final cuts.
