New York Knicks: How signing a superstar impacts their incumbent teams

New York Knicks: How a superstar signing impacts their incumbent team

HOUSTON, TX - MAY 4: Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors looks on against the Houston Rockets during Game Three of the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2019 NBA Playoffs on May 4, 2019 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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Warriors Klay Thompson (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. /

Klay Thompson

Klay Thompson leaving the Golden State Warriors seems unheard of. He and Stephen Curry have formed one of the NBA’s greatest backcourts ever, winning three championships and potentially a fourth if they can move past the Houston Rockets and one of the Portland Trail Blazers or Denver Nuggets.

This is the summer for Thompson to receive his pay for the success, which will likely net a max contract, pending the Warriors give it to him. If they don’t, a team like the Los Angeles Clippers may target one half of the Splash Brothers, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Thompson has never been linked to the New York Knicks, and the Clippers are the only team to be mentioned, so if he leaves for them, it will obviously shake up the Western Conference and deplete Golden State’s backcourt.

Curry and Thompson have worked off each other for years, and for the former to work with someone else — likely a worse shooter than Thompson — could take the Warriors off their years long pedestal.

That also leaves just Curry and Draymond Green to lead this team, barring other circumstances. They might still be a playoff team, but compared to the other West rosters, in the bottom four of the top eight.