Warriors News: Team Expects Klay Thompson to Stay Rather Than Join Lakers

The Golden State Warriors reportedly expect shooting guard Klay Thompson to re-sign during or before the upcoming offseason.

According to The Athletic's Ethan Strauss, there is an "expectation within and outside" the Warriors organization that Thompson will remain with Golden State.

Strauss noted that due to the perception that Thompson isn't going anywhere, the Los Angeles Lakers are the only team that has been seriously mentioned as a threat to sign him away from Golden State.

Thompson is an L.A. native, and his father, Mychal Thompson, starred for the Lakers for five seasons and won two championships with them.

Also, Thompson would undoubtedly be a great fit alongside LeBron James in Los Angeles given his shooting ability.

While Thompson takes a backseat to Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant at times with the Warriors, he is still a four-time All-Star who is having another solid year with 21.6 points per game and 2.7 three-pointers made per contest.

Also, if Durant leaves the Warriors in free agency, Thompson would go back to being the No. 2 scoring option behind Curry.

In August, Thompson spoke with Mark Medina of the Mercury News and expressed his desire to remain with the Warriors over the long haul: "I've said it many times before: I would like to be a Warrior for life. Contract negotiations are way down the line. But I think we all have the same interest. I would love to be here for the rest of my career."

Given his offensive acumen, Thompson would undoubtedly command a huge contract on the open market.

He has been inconsistent at times this season, but he may be hitting his stride after dropping 43 points on the New York Knicks on Tuesday.

Thompson has already won three NBA championships with the Dubs, and if he can help lead them to another this season, it may be tough to walk away from that kind of success.

Zach Lowe was the guest on the latest edition of The Full 48 podcast and spoke about the Warriors and much more. To hear the Warriors discussion, jump to 35:40.