The Warriors always had a slight pre-free-agency advantage. Tampering is rampant in the NBA, growing in volume and brashness, it seems, by the year. But the incumbent can tamper legally, above ground, out of the shadows.
They’ve done so with Klay Thompson, dropping the desired five-year, full $190 million max offer on the table, which Thompson, according to our Shams Charania, has already agreed to accept. No meetings elsewhere. No drama. Business done before free agency even hits.
That’s important to the Warriors for a couple reasons. The most obvious is the retention of a franchise legend. They have Thompson under control through the 2023-24 season, when he’ll be 34, locking him down for his entire prime and setting up the real possibility that he and Steph Curry spend their entire careers in the Bay Area.
But it also allows the Warriors to very quickly shift the bulk of their focus to Kevin Durant. This won’t be a distracted front…
