Warriors' Updated Depth Chart After Klay Thompson Torn Achilles Injury
For the second straight season, it looks like the Golden State Warriors will have to operate without Klay Thompson in their backcourt.
The Warriors announced Thursday that Thompson has torn his right Achilles and will miss the 2020-21 NBA season:
Factoring in Thompson's absence, here's a projection of the Warriors' depth chart:
- PG: Stephen Curry, Ky Bowman
- SG: Damion Lee, Jordan Poole
- SF: Andrew Wiggins, Juan Toscano-Anderson
- PF: Draymond Green, Eric Paschall
- C: James Wiseman, Marquese Chriss
The five-time All-Star was out for all of 2019-20 while recovering the torn left ACL he suffered during the 2019 NBA Finals. The timing of that injury allowed the front office to formulate a plan in the offseason.
Golden State experimented with the guard pairing of D'Angelo Russell and Stephen Curry to open the season. Curry suffered a broken left hand and underwent surgery shortly after the year tipped off, and the team traded Russell to the Minnesota Timberwolves in February.
Damion Lee and Jordan Poole are the internal options to take over at 2-guard now, and neither of those players is a good fit in a starting role for a team with championship aspirations. Lee is averaging 9.8 points for his career while shooting 41.9 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from beyond the arc. Poole averaged 8.8 points off the bench but was a 27.9 percent three-point shooter.
Finances limit who the Warriors can realistically target to take Thompson's place in the short term:
In general, free agency isn't fertile ground for shooting guards, especially with ESPN's Tim MacMahon reporting Tim Hardaway Jr. has exercised his player option with the Dallas Mavericks. Joe Harris and Jordan Clarkson are two of the best options still on the board.
Golden State doesn't have much in the way of trade assets, either, though the Minnesota Timberwolves' top-three protected 2021 first-round pick could be attractive to prospective suitors.
Action gets underway on Dec. 22, leaving general manager Bob Myers with little time to line up a replacement.
