SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 16: Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriors reacts after ... [+]
As is the case in any offseason, what a player does on Instagram gets tracked - thoroughly - by curious fan bases, hoping to sniff out what a player's future intentions are.
Golden State Warriors wing, Klay Thompson, recently unfollowed the ball club on the social media platform, and deleted pictures of him and former MVP Stephen Curry, fueling multiple investigations by Internet detectives.
Needless to say, players often scrub their social media profiles after the end of a season, with very little fuss. But due to Thompson's status as an unrestricted free agent this summer, this has caught people's attention.
So let's get into Thompson's free agency, Instagram changes notwithstanding.
The 34-year-old has played his entire career with the Warriors, where he's won four championships. Due to two severe injuries, a torn ACL and a torn Achilles tendon, his body has undergone changes that's affected his game.
Often lauded for his defensive prowess, Thompson is now a far more inconsistent defender, due to a decline in mobility. His defensive IQ remains high, but his body occasionally struggles to execute what he wants to do.
Offensively, his influenced has fortunately remained much the same, even if he's had to change it.
Viewed as the second-best shooter of all-time, Thompson has hit 39.7% of his nightly 9.7 three-point attempts since returning from injury, which has offset the lack of athletic pop that he had before.
So, what does this mean for his upcoming free agency?
His age and injury history isn't likely to work in his favor. Teams generally don't wish to break the bank for a player who's increasingly trending towards becoming a one-trick pony.
However, that one trick is right up there as one of the best in the league, which might make a team get starry-eyed, to the point where they're willing to up an offer dramatically to secure his signature.
For the Warriors, getting Thompson back is obviously of priority, but not at all costs. Head coach Steve Kerr saw no other way than to bench the former All-Star in February, utilizing him as a sixth man, until Thompson returned to the starting unit later in the season.
But just that bench adventure alone is a sign of how Thompson isn't the same player as he used to be, and the contract offer from Golden State is likely to represent that.
Thompson earned over $43.2 million this season, and it seems reasonable that the Warriors will make an offer that cuts that in half, and that might be generous.
Teams that have cap space, such as Orlando, San Antonio, Detroit, and Philadelphia, presumably have other players listed higher on their board, in large part due to three of those teams being in the middle of a rebuild. Only the Sixers are looking to make a deep run next season, and by all accounts they have Paul George as their main target.
Where does that leave Thompson?
With the Warriors presumably still willing to pay him a premium for their years together, as a type of nostalgia boost, Golden State might actually end up being the team making the best offer, even if it's for a fraction of his former salary.
This shouldn't be seen as a loss for Thompson and his team, regardless of how much they want to break the bank one final time.
At some point, reality has to set in. Not many players in their mid-30's, with two crippling injuries in their recent history, stand to make considerable money anymore. If Thompson walks away with a deal averaging $20 million per season over the course two or three years, that's a fair compromise for both sides.
Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.
