Klay Thompson, a sniper for the Golden State Warriors, has been quite candid about his difficulties this season, which go beyond his subpar shooting. On a team with little room for mistake and ongoing championship hopes, Thompson is trying to accept his advancing years and waning skill set.
The Warriors and Thompson could have come up with a sensible solution on Thursday night, the eve of the All-Star break, that makes a lot of sense going forward.
In the Warriors’ 140-137 victory against the Utah Jazz, Thompson made his bench debut for the first time since his rookie year in 2012. He could have pouted and sulked the whole game if he had thought of the change as a demotion, and nobody could have faulted him for doing so. Conversely, Thompson seemed refocused and rejuvenated as he laser-beamed his way to a season-high 35 points, including 7 of 13 3-point shooting, in his first 18 minutes on the floor.
Because of how well the change worked, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game that Thompson would continue to start off the bench, at least for the time being.
“As I said, I like that [beginning] lineup, but it doesn’t mean it’s permanent. With Klay off the bench, we have a lot of offensive power. After taking a quick look at it, we’ll see where it goes.
Firepower, yes. When Thompson is hot, as we have seen several times during his career, he is just unstoppable. It was on as soon as he saw the first 3-point try made with less than three minutes remaining in the first quarter. Thompson started a scoring binge that continued until the intermission.Following the game, Kerr said, “I thought he handled everything beautifully, the way he came out — determined, competitive.” “Klay is a champion, but that’s challenging. He’s among the most driven individuals I’ve ever encountered. He played an absolutely fantastic game and reacted appropriately.”
The Warriors should think about deploying the 34-year-old Thompson as a sixth man on a regular basis, even if he said in the halftime TV interview that he came off the bench in the second game of a back-to-back to rest his legs.
It’s impossible to overstate how awful Thompson has been this season. Although he was shooting only 41% from the field and 37% from 3-point range going into Thursday night, he was still averaging 17 points, which was by far the lowest of his career. The team’s stats are even more striking when Thompson is playing. With Thompson on the court, the Warriors have been outscored by 7.8 points per 100 possessions, and his minutes have resulted in a far lower defensive rating. For the season, Thompson was minus-55 going into Thursday night.
All of this is to argue that Thompson hasn’t been performing well enough to be in the starting lineup. The traditional NBA sixth man generally comes to mind as someone who can make buckets. Jordan Clarkson, Jamal Crawford, Lou Williams, and Tyler Herro. All of these Sixth Man of the Year winners have one thing in common: when they get going, they can light it up, but they also all have shortcomings, generally on the defensive end of the ball.
The top perimeter players on the other side will have less of a target if Thompson is benched. With Thompson on the floor on Thursday, the Warriors used a lot of zone, another strategy they may utilize more often. Bringing Thompson off the bench gives you options on the attacking end. Let it ride if he’s ferocious, like he was against the Jazz. However, you may more easily pluck him if he’s off without significantly disrupting your rotations.