Klay Thompson To Clippers Possible If Warriors Lose Focus, Smith Warns

The Golden State Warriors have been warned not to focus all their attention in free agency at Kevin Durant and to give Klay Thompson priority as he is more committed to the Bay Area team at the moment than the former. Stephen A Smith wants them to secure the shooting guard, who has previously stated that he wants to remain with the Warriors in the long-term or risk losing him to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Durant and Thompson will become unrestricted free agents later in July and will have a decision to make about their future. The former has remained non-committal thus far and is yet to divulge his plans, but the latter, and his father Mychal Thompson, have on more than one occasion stated that he wants to stay with the Warriors.

And Thompson’s desire looks to have been taken for granted as all the focus is on how Warriors will convince Durant to re-sign rather than join another franchise. Both the players will be eligible for max contracts and offering them both max deals will put the Warriors well above the luxurious tax limit.

It is no secret that the Warriors will offer Durant anything he wants as he has been key to them winning back-to-back NBA titles and is currently playing a key role on their road to potentially winning a third straight championship. And Smith is of the belief that whatever the offer in front of him, ultimately he will decide whether he wants a new challenge or remain with his current employers.

"We all know that KD is All-World, but Golden State is not really prioritizing him: A, because KD's his own man, he's going to make whatever decision he's going to make. And they believe whether he elects to stay or go, what else can they do for him?" Smith said on Monday's "First Take," as transcribed by Bleacher Report. "They've got a first-class organization. They're moving into a state-of-the-art new facility. They know that he commands the max, so they'd give it to him, etc. He's going to make the decision.”

Thompson, on the other hand, is not looking at other franchise and the belief is that if the Warriors put a five-year $190 million max contract in front of him – it will be signed. Smith revealed that a number of league executives and former players have advised them to prioritize the shooting guard over Durant and if they drop the ball, the Clippers have been touted as favorites over the Lakers to land Thompson.

"But I also have been told that they have been advised, strongly I might add, by some of the elite in the game, Hall of Famers as executives and players: Prioritize Klay Thompson. In other words, offer Klay Thompson every penny that you can. If you short-change him in any way in free agency, he will consider departing,” Smith added. “Probably for the Clippers more so than anybody else. We need to keep our eyes on that, even though I'm told by Golden State there's no way in hell they're going to do that. They're going to keep the Splash Brothers together."