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Klay Thompson enters free agency for the first time since 2019 when he had just torn his ACL, but was all but certain to re-sign with the Golden State Warriors. Thompson is expected to test free agency as he seeks what will likely be his last major NBA contract.

“We need Klay back,” Steve Kerr said after the game. “He’s still got good years left. And I know I speak for everybody in the organization: We want him back. … What Klay has meant to this franchise and as good as he still is, we desperately want him back.”

Thompson didn’t speak with reporters after the Warriors were eliminated in the Play-In.

“That’s life,” Thompson said of free agency at Tuesday’s shootaround. “Had so much success here, I’m not going to let whatever future happens make me salty about what I’ve been able to accomplish in a Warriors uniform. I don’t let that seep in at all.”

Conversations on an extension between Thompson and the Warriors stalled before the season and were never picked up. Sources tell ESPN that Thompson was bothered by the fact that there was much reassurance from the Warriors that a deal would eventually get done.

“[Klay is] going to make the best decision for him, the team’s got a decision to make and they’ll make the best decision for the team. … I don’t think there’s any scenario where Klay leaves and that’s the best decision for this team and organization,” Green said. “[The organization] has shown nothing but respect, loyalty, love and trust. I’ve got no reason to think, oh man, they’re not going to do right by Klay.

“I have no reason to think that our ownership group isn’t going to take care of us the way we have taken care of this organization.”

Sources tell ESPN that Thompson would like a new deal that aligns with Stephen Curry, Steve Kerr and Green. Curry and Kerr are signed through 25-26.

“I could never see myself not with those two guys,” Curry said. “I understand this league changes and there are so many things that go into it and we’re not going to play forever, but we’ve experienced so much together and at the end of the day I know they want to win, I know I want to win, and that’s all I’m worried about.”