During the offseason, the Dallas Mavericks surprised a number of people by signing future Hall of Famer and four-time champion Klay Thompson to a three-year, $50 million contract. Thompson chose to come to Dallas rather than the Los Angeles Lakers since he would receive less money and would be playing for a shorter amount of time. It was widely anticipated that he would conclude his career with the Golden State Warriors, the only franchise for which he has ever played, but unfortunately, this did not turn out to be the case.
His now-former comrade Jonathan Kuminga is one of the individuals who is taken aback by this news. Kuminga was taken by the Warriors seventh overall in the 2021 NBA Draft. In 2022, the Warriors and Thompson won a championship together during their time with Golden State. A question was posed to Kuminga when he was in Las Vegas attending the NBA Summer League. The question concerned Klay Thompson’s decision to sign with the Mavericks.
“I was a little shocked,” Kuminga stated with a sigh. “Klay is someone who took me under his wing when I was first sent to the military for the draft. When I was out there, he was one of the people I looked up to as a hero. Each and every time, he explained to me how the league operated… At the end of the day, I congratulate him on his success. He makes every choice he does for the sake of his own well-being and for the sake of his future. Even now, I continue to communicate with him and ask him questions about how things operate and other similar topics.
There are a lot of NBA fans who will find it strange to see Thompson wearing a jersey that is not part of the Golden State Warriors’ uniform. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are two players that should be paired with him to build a powerful offensive unit.
In the absence of Thompson, Kuminga will be required to continue to step up and take charge. Despite the fact that they signed Buddy Hield and Kyle Anderson through free agency, the Warriors will also require some development from inside the player pool. Over the course of his third season in the NBA, Kuminga raised his scoring average to 16.1 points per game. The Warriors are hopeful that he can become a secondary scorer to Steph Curry.
