For the second straight year, Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors will miss the entire NBA season due to an injury. On Wednesday, Thompson got hurt while working out in southern California, and according to Rogers Sportsnet, he tore his right Achilles tendon.
Thompson also missed the entire 2019-20 NBA season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament during game six of the 2019 NBA Finals. The Warriors lost 114-110 to the Toronto Raptors, and in the process, lost the series four games to two.
It was a very difficult season for the Warriors in 2019-20. In addition to not having Thompson on the floor, the Warriors lost star point guard Stephen Curry for 60 games with a broken hand. Golden State meanwhile went from having the best team in the Western Conference in 2018-19 (record of 57 wins and 25 losses) to the worst team in the Western Conference in 2019-20 (record of 15 wins and 50 losses).
When healthy, Thompson is quite simply one of the best shooting guards in the NBA. For five straight seasons from 2014 to 2019, he averaged a minimum of 20 points per game, and had a career-high 22.3 points per game in the 2016-17 season. Also during this time, the Warriors won three NBA Finals, as they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015, 2017, and 2018.
Last season after the Warriors lost Thompson, they acquired former first overall pick Andrew Wiggins from the Minnesota Timberwolves at the trade deadline. The 25-year-old Canadian who was initially drafted by the Cavaliers in 2014, averaged 21.8 points per game last season.
Now, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Warriors are close to acquiring small forward Kelly Oubre Jr. from the Phoenix Suns for a first round pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. In fact, ESPN already has Oubre Jr. number one on the Warriors depth chart when it comes to small forward.
The Warriors would be Oubre Jr.’s third NBA team as he has also played with the Washington Wizards. Last year with the Suns, Oubre Jr. averaged 18.7 points per game, 6.4 rebounds per game, and 1.5 assists per game, alongside a field goal percentage of .452, three-point percentage of .352, and free throw percentage of .780.
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