With speculation about the sharpshooter’s future continuing to intensify, the franchise itself has broken the silence with a clear sign of its intentions.

As the contractual standoff continues between the four-time NBA champion and the Golden State Warriors, it’s becoming increasingly clear that we’re at the end of an era. After making it to the NBA Finals five consecutive times between 2015 and 2019 and winning three of them, the Warriors appear to be on the verge of disbanding the core group that got them there.

The Warriors want to keep Klay Thompson

If you’ve seen our previous report then you already know that things are shaky between the Golden State Warriors and their long-time shooting guard Klay Thompson. With that said, the franchise has left no doubt as to what it would like to see happen. Speaking recently about the ongoing negotiations with Thompson, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy gave a straightforward answer when asked about Thompson’s status. “We want him back,” Dunleavy said during a press conference on Monday. “I think we’ve said that all along. Hopeful he’ll come back, but as far as the specifics of discussions and those types of things, I think it’s important to keep in-house.”

If you didn’t know, Thompson is set to become an unrestricted free agent on June 30th, with some reports indicating he will “test free agency before a decision is made.” Indeed, reports this week suggested that Thompson will leave the Warriors with talks between him and the franchise said to be “frozen” such that his departure “feels closer and more probable than ever before.” Should that prove to be the case, the Warriors will lose a player who has never played for another team and averaged 17.9 points this past season. While that was a career low, his 38.7% shooting from three-point range compensated. Nonetheless, it sounds like the band is breaking up, something which will undoubtedly be felt by everybody who’s involved.

“I think being reasonable and rational, that’s always how I’m going to operate but to say about a guy like Klay Thompson, who’s meant so much to this franchise, to completely ᵴtriƥ the emotion away from it, I think that’s almost impossible,” said Dunleavy. “I think it’s about what the right thing that works for the franchise and the player and the role he is in. Factoring all of those things in is what’s most important, and that’s what is taking place and what we’re looking at.”