Warriors working with Klay Thompson on a sign-and-trade

The era is coming to end, and likely soon.

It’s become essentially inevitable that franchise legend Klay Thompson will not be playing for the Golden State Warriors next year. After the team decided to put Thompson’s contract on the back burner — and fairly publicly pursue Paul George (to no avail) — Thompson appears set on playing for a new team this season. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has reported that Thompson will meet with the Philadelphia 76ers, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, and LA Clippers, and The Athletic’s Anthony Slater was blunt when asked if there was any chance Klay plays for the Warriors next year.

Slater’s colleague at The Athletic, Shams Charania, was even more blunt, saying, “Klay Thompson is departing the Warriors and the sides will begin to work through sign-and-trade options.”

A sign-and-trade is beneficial to both sides. It gives the Warriors their best chance at recouping some talent instead of losing Thompson (and Chris Paul, who was just waived) for nothing. And it gives Thompson the opportunity to maximize his profits, as he can be sign-and-traded into a team that might not have the cap space to offer him a large contract outright.

It could be that a sign-and-trade materializes quickly, or it could take a while for Thompson to decide a new home, for he and his new team to decide on contract particulars, and for the Warriors and that team to come to an agreement on a deal.

But one thing is becoming painfully clear: Klay Thompson isn’t going to be on the Warriors w hen the season begins in four months.