Klay Thompson Was Going to Leave Warriors After Winning the 3rd Title, Says Draymond Green

Klay Thompson is now a Miami Heat player after the Dallas Mavericks bought him out. The conversation around that signing is about role, age, and Heat culture. But when Draymond Green gave his two cents on the matter, he also made an interesting revelation about Thompson being on his way out of Golden State seven years earlier.

Green said there was a 90% chance Klay Thompson left the Warriors after the 2019 playoffs to become a No. 1 option.

“Highly likely that after the 2019 playoffs, Klay Thompson was going to leave the Golden State Warriors and go be a number one option somewhere else," Green said on his podcast. "But then he got hurt, so he stayed. There was a 90% chance my brother was going to leave Golden State and go elsewhere and test that number one option thing out. Unfortunately, it wasn't in the cards, and he got hurt, and he never got the opportunity.”

Thompson already had three championships, 2015, 2017, and 2018, and five straight Finals trips. The 2018-19 season was the first one after Kevin Durant’s last full year as a healthy Warrior partner, and Thompson’s deal was up.

In Green’s take, the only reason that test never happened is the torn ACL in Game 6 of the 2019 Finals, weeks before unrestricted free agency.

The injury froze the decision. Thompson stayed, tore his Achilles in 2020, returned for the 2022 title, left for Dallas in 2024, and is now in Miami.

Draymond Green Compares Klay Thompson to Reggie Miller to Prove No. 1 Option Stance

Draymond Green brought up Reggie Miller to counter the 'Klay was never a No. 1' argument. Miller wasn't typically viewed as the most physically gifted player on the floor and did not need to be the primary creator every night.

He was still the face and primary scoring option on Indiana teams that went to the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals. Green’s point was that if that counted as a No. 1 option, then pre-injury Klay Thompson, a better shooter, a two-way wing, and already a three-time champion, would have counted too.

“You mean to tell me if Klay Thompson left the Warriors, he couldn’t be a number one option but Reggie Miller could? It's blasphemous.”

Miller is remembered as a franchise player. Thompson is remembered as the second Splash Brother. Green asserted that it is a result of staying next to Stephen Curry, not proof that Thompson lacked the game to lead.

That injury did more than keep him in the Bay. It was used for every later argument about his game. Pre-injury Klay was a two-way star on a dynasty. Post-injury Klay is the player critics use to argue that he always needed Curry.

In his new journey with Miami, Thompson has the opportunity to bounce back, and the comeback necessarily doesn't have to match his Warriors-level heroics to be considered great.