Kyrie fined $25K for obscene language toward fan

The Golden State Warriors are preparing to lose Klay Thompson in free agency, sources tell The Athletic. Both sides are operating under the assumption that Thompson will end up with another team this offseason.

While the Warriors had hoped to circle back to Thompson with a contract offer after they pursued other trade options, he isn’t expected to be waiting to listen. Thompson is determined to find a new team. Thompson and the Warriors have had nearly no communication since the negotiating period opened nearly two weeks ago without an offer being presented.

The Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks are expected to be among the teams to pursue Thompson. The Mavericks have enough space to offer Thompson the full midlevel exception, while the Lakers can also do so if LeBron James takes less than his max. Rich Paul went on record expressing James’ willingness to take a below max deal if the Lakers could sign an impact player for the MLE.

The Warriors are open to participating in a sign-and-trade scenario to help Thompson get the type of contract he wants from a team of his choosing.

Thompson, who is represented by Greg Lawrence, is coming off a five-year, $190 million contract agreed upon in 2019 following his ACL tear in Game 6 of The Finals. In 77 games last season, Thompson averaged 17.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 38.7 percent on three-pointers.

When Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman requested a meeting with Sean Marks less than 24 hours after the Brooklyn Nets traded it was described as “somber.” Durant told Marks he wanted to be traded and specifically asked to be dealt to the Phoenix Suns. Durant, Kleiman and Marks then Facetimed Joe Tsai, who was at his home in San Diego.

Durant wanted the situation to remain private as he didn’t want a bidding war and days of being the target of speculation.

“At some point, there’s just a fatigue,” one source close to the process said. “There’s just too much drama. Too much uncertainty.”

Durant told the Nets he’d play out the rest of the 22-23 season if they couldn’t find a way to execute the trade with the Suns and he’d find a way to get excited about their new additions in Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith from the Dallas Mavericks.

The Durant deal started as an owner-to-owner call on Monday afternoon as Tsai told Mat Ishbia that Durant wanted a trade to the Suns. Ishbia had attended several Nets’ games over the years as a guest of Tsai and the two had grown to like each other.

Marks and James Jones began working on the details of a trade, and the Nets never came off their asking price.