Thompson: I'd 'consider' taking a discount to keep Warriors intact

The Golden State Warriors have a once-in-a-lifetime core in the form of All-Stars Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson. Having the finances necessary to keep those four together, though, will be the tricky part.

Thompson is locked in for another two seasons before entering unrestricted free agency in 2019. To remain with the Warriors, he'd likely have to take a discount, and for the time being, that's something the 27-year-old Splash Brother would at least "consider" doing.

"I probably could, yeah," said Thompson to The Athletic's Marcus Thompson and Tim Kawakami when asked if he'd take a discount for the betterment of the team.

Thompson then commented on the discount Durant agreed to this offseason, taking $25 million with a player option when he could've earned upward of $34 million. This allowed Golden State to retain key members of its second unit in Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala.

"That much? I don't know. I don't make as much as Kevin off the court. If it's a few million ... it's a blessing whatever contract I sign. I would definitely consider it cause I don't want to lose anybody."

From a pure basketball standpoint, Thompson is in the ideal situation in the Bay Area. He's already won two championships with perhaps more on the horizon, and is a perfect fit in an offense that involves plenty of passing (Warriors recorded assists on 70.5 percent of its field goals), transition buckets, and outside shooting.

Other than the money, if Thompson chose to leave, he'd theoretically escape the shadow of some teammates - similar to Kyrie Irving's situation with the Cavaliers - and possibly carve out a No. 1 role elsewhere, instead of continuing to be the third or fourth in command.

Thompson averaged 22.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 0.8 steals for the 67-win Warriors, converting 46.8 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from 3-point range.

- With h/t to CBS Sports