What the heck is going on with Klay Thompson? Did the Monstars steal his shooting ability from him?
I’ve chosen to write about Klay Thompson today because I’m searching for answers on why he’s struggling. A few days before the start of the season, I sniped Thompson in the sixth round of my fantasy basketball league. I was excited to take him, especially in the sixth round because he was a key player in my fantasy basketball league victory last year.
Once the season actually started, I was disappointed. Klay Thompson isn’t playing as Klay Thompson should. So, I did my research on why Klay is struggling since I don’t really get to watch Golden State play that often, and I think I’ve found the reason why Klay is struggling.
If you take a look at the box score after every Warriors game, it’s obvious that Klay can’t hit a shot (unless you’re blind). This is weird coming from the consistent star because he shot so well from behind the arc in the preseason (55%), he was the fifth best three-point shooter by percentage last season (43.7%), and he’s one of the greatest shooters in the history of basketball.
So far this season, Klay’s shooting a horrific 13.9% from downtown.
At this point, I don’t know who can shoot better: Klay Thompson or a third grader who’s shooting from the NBA three-point line for his/her first time.
(I think it’s the third grader.)
It’s like he forgot how to shoot or something.
Oh, by the way, he’s also shooting a disgusting 39.6% from the field.
In my fantasy basketball league, a player is deducted one fantasy point for every missed shot. Since Klay is currently building a brick house, he’s being deducted a lot of fantasy points.
Remember when the Warriors faced the Thunder on opening night a few weeks ago? The Warriors won that game for a reason. Klay really balled out, posting a career-high ONE fantasy point (sarcasm added).
To be honest, I still don’t know how I won my week one matchup with that performance.
Sarcasm aside, Klay really racked up only one fantasy point. He shot an abysmal 25% from the field (5-20) and an even worse 12.5% from three-point land (1-8). Klay’s shot and the basket that game had a worse connection than McDonald’s Wi-Fi has with my phone.
What makes it worse for Klay is that he doesn’t really have another role in the Warriors’ unstoppable offense. He gets four rebounds a game, and like one an assist, so there’s really no way Klay is making up the fantasy points he’s losing.
Right now, he’s averaging around 11-15 fantasy points a game for me. His struggle is hurting my team because he should be adding a reasonable 18-25 fantasy points a night as one of the league’s best shooting guards. But he’s not, and I’m taking a thick bullet for it.
Klay’s rough start to the season made me contemplate trading him away now before his slump becomes more apparent. However, I don’t think I’ll trade Klay from my fantasy basketball team (LeBron’s Children is the team name if you’re wondering) unless I’m offered a steal to get rid of him. I also don’t think that anyone else should trade him away either because I believe he’ll get out of the shooting slump soon since he is such a great shooter. Even Klay said himself that “it’s fine,” and that there’s a lot of the season left to get into a groove.
Klay Thompson on his early-season shooting struggles: “It’s fine. It not Game 54. It’s Game 4, and now it’s Game 5.” pic.twitter.com/DlcBT3SEBS
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) October 24, 2018
At least I hope he will because I lost my fantasy matchup last week because of him.
In the comments below, feel free to offer your own opinion on if I should trade Klay Thompson, or hit me up on my Twitter @stevenpepper38 and/or my Instagram @stevenpepper_.