is Klay done?

[michaelm]

Did Klay finally get hooked up by LeBron's source?

Suddenly has legs again, though still a cone on defense. The jumper has been looking smooth, I knew his shooting would come back to some degree but nice to see him a little springier, especially on a back to back. Really good sign. TJD emerging is also a great sign for Klay, as we need more threats on offense to help get him open.

Everyone should've believed that Klay's shot would eventually come back. It's the fact that we have to hide him on defense that was throwing everything off. That and his lack of effort and focus on that end. Hiding him on defense just makes him do all the things he's bad at, focus off the ball, rebounding, help defense, rim protection, etc. Before we could mitigate that by putting him on the ball. Now he really doesn't do anything well on defense.

But just like everyone should believe that Wiggins is going to find his offense as well.

Exactly. Never doubted he will eventually hit some more shots.

Also, when he hits shots, he is less likely to try to be point guard Klay which also greatly hurts our offense.

No dribble Klay is still a very valuable player, why on earth he chooses to try it now when he didn’t in his pomp escapes me, he is famously the guy who scored 37 points in a quarter which involved something like 2 dribbles.

[jozef]

He did not consciously try to overdribble. He just had no reliable partner able to roll to the basket.

[Hoopstar23]

Klay!!! LMAO

[wco81]

Fake fan is celebrating while the Warriors have lost 3 straight.

Would rather see the Warriors lose if it means Klay is struggling than win if Klay has good games in their wins.

[jozef]

As small forward Klay is done. Well, he never was All-Star as small forward...

[superunknown]

trade him.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

Do we have a better 2nd option?
I would prefer a better 2nd option than Klay but I don’t think we have one. Maybe Kuminga 2 years from now. Poole in the 2022 playoffs.

[superunknown]

again with this second option thing.
like he was avg 25 a game with good % and shot selection on a consistent base.
trade him. then go get a real second option.

[CDM_Stats]

2nd option isnt a position.. its a ranking and a mostly superficial one. The team needs confidence, ball movement, and transition buckets that typically come from good defense

[wco81]

again with this second option thing.
like he was avg 25 a game with good % and shot selection on a consistent base.
trade him. then go get a real second option.

Barring a trade though, there isn't another volume scorer on the team.

Tonight vs. Bulls, when Curry struggled the first 3 quarters, he was feeding Klay as they came back and overtook the Bulls in the third quarter.

He may not be able to do it consistently enough any more but who else in the roster besides Curry can make 7 or more 3s in a given game?

Even if the team got Siakam, they still need someone to provide spacing if Curry isn't shooting well in a game. The spacing gives Siakam room to operate and go downhill from around the elbow.

So if such a trade worked out really well, maybe Klay is more of a #3, kind of like Korea, a movement shooter.

Duncan Robinson was thought to be unplayable but he's had a renaissance part of last season and into this season, putting the ball down and making some plays.

Klay had 6 assists, got TJD some easy baskets, because teams won't let him get a open look at a midrange jumper.

The temptation is to get off his contract and get someone who can score and defend. But better to have Klay on the team even with a big trade so that if Steph or this second option is having an off night, you still have a guy who can put up 30 and force big men to come up on him.

[superunknown]

again with this second option thing.
like he was avg 25 a game with good % and shot selection on a consistent base.
trade him. then go get a real second option.

Barring a trade though, there isn't another volume scorer on the team.

Tonight vs. Bulls, when Curry struggled the first 3 quarters, he was feeding Klay as they came back and overtook the Bulls in the third quarter.

He may not be able to do it consistently enough any more but who else in the roster besides Curry can make 7 or more 3s in a given game?

Even if the team got Siakam, they still need someone to provide spacing if Curry isn't shooting well in a game. The spacing gives Siakam room to operate and go downhill from around the elbow.

So if such a trade worked out really well, maybe Klay is more of a #3, kind of like Korea, a movement shooter.

Duncan Robinson was thought to be unplayable but he's had a renaissance part of last season and into this season, putting the ball down and making some plays.

Klay had 6 assists, got TJD some easy baskets, because teams won't let him get a open look at a midrange jumper.

The temptation is to get off his contract and get someone who can score and defend. But better to have Klay on the team even with a big trade so that if Steph or this second option is having an off night, you still have a guy who can put up 30 and force big men to come up on him.

I get what you're saying, but:
1) volume scorer is not what this team needs.
2) to cdm point, first we need players that can defend and thus generate transition buckets and better looks. he doesn't provide any of that as he's a cone on defense. D is the biggest issue of the team, dray return alone won't solve it. and you can only "hide" 1 player at once (steph, because regardless of his defence, you need him to be fresh on offense as he will always have to carry the burden and generate offense with his gravity).
gotta go at the trade deadline, his 40M expiring can get something decent in return.

[wco81]

I believe scoring is up, even over last season.

You need to be able to defend but scoring makes up for average defense, like the Nuggets, who have elite offense.

The trade targets whom Warriors are talking about are better defenders in the case of Siakam or Murray but their teams have worse record than the Warriors.

Utah beat the Raptors by 32 points, scoring 145. Is Siakam that defender?

[superunknown]

siakam may not be that defender.
surely klay isn't anymore.
and siakam right now is a better second violin than him.
it is what it is. he's a warrior legend, no one will ever take this away from him or his accomplishments, but it's time to move on.

[DonaldSanders]

siakam may not be that defender.
surely klay isn't anymore.
and siakam right now is a better second violin than him.
it is what it is. he's a warrior legend, no one will ever take this away from him or his accomplishments, but it's time to move on.

That is part of what is getting lost about Steph struggling at times - he is being asked to do too much on defense and then he doesn't have the same energy for offense. This is more of a problem given his age and the amount he runs on offense. Klay used to be a guy that helped hide Steph on D and keep him fresh, now the roles are basically reversed.

Klay can be effective as a smaller minute bench scorer, but it is not going to work anymore with him as a starter. Even in our recent chip the team did better with Klay on the bench in the playoffs, though his minutes were a small positive still. Now he is showing more age, and the defensive deficiencies mean he should not start anymore.

[superunknown]

siakam may not be that defender.
surely klay isn't anymore.
and siakam right now is a better second violin than him.
it is what it is. he's a warrior legend, no one will ever take this away from him or his accomplishments, but it's time to move on.

That is part of what is getting lost about Steph struggling at times - he is being asked to do too much on defense and then he doesn't have the same energy for offense. This is more of a problem given his age and the amount he runs on offense. Klay used to be a guy that helped hide Steph on D and keep him fresh, now the roles are basically reversed.

Klay can be effective as a smaller minute bench scorer, but it is not going to work anymore with him as a starter. Even in our recent chip the team did better with Klay on the bench in the playoffs, though his minutes were a small positive still. Now he is showing more age, and the defensive deficiencies mean he should not start anymore.

this. and it's strange people don't fully undestand it.

[Sandy333]

At this point Klay is playing like Seth Cury and needs to be paid like him. Only additional point is klay is still better than Seth in running off screens and shooting.

[righterwriter]

I'm sure its already been said many times over here, but Klay has to go. He's a one-trick pony, who's one trick (shooting 3s) isn't even that good anymore.

You just get the feeling that when he's on the court that he sucks away so much energy due to his belief that he should be taking most of the shots. Meanwhile, the more electric, talented, hungry young players have to stand on the side and defer to the guy who has this undeserved sense of entitlement. Not to mention, his cement-footed defense, his lack of ability to do anything off the dribble, and his penchant for bad turnovers are killers.

I love what Klay did for the team during our championship run, and he should be a hall of famer, but he's literally just standing in the way of the younger players now. The last thing we need is to piss off and stunt the growth of our future out of respect for Klay's past.

Trade him to a team that needs a shooter and get anything of value back, while giving minutes and shots to Kuminga, Podz, and Moody.

[jozef]

He plays good fundamental defense on any guard. He shoots off screen in way only few can and draws help defense every night.

[Hoopstar23]

pretty much admitted it... good awareness from Klay... let's see if Kerr lowers his minutes dramatically

[michaelm]

He plays good fundamental defense on any guard. He shoots off screen in way only few can and draws help defense every night.

He is still probably the best second option as a scorer, and Kerr may have been trying to get him going because there is nobody else who can provide the shooting Klay does and Kerr considers GSW are not in the race against elite teams without Klay at something like his peak offensively.

I don’t see why he can’t play the 6th man role Poole did though, with the starters providing a defensive platform straight off. He can play more or less minutes depending on how his shot is falling, and indeed return to starting if he shows signs of returning to his old self. The only barrier to him being a 6th man appears to be ego/unwillingness hitherto to accept not starting.