Klay Thompson’s return (so far): How has his game changed?

Klay Thompson was dropped into the middle of a playoff race two months ago with uncertain expectations about how he’d perform. After two years off, many wondered if Thompson – the former Washington State Cougar and a staple of the Warriors’ splashy offense – could be reliable operating on his surgically repaired knee and ankle.

Would he elevate Golden State’s title chances?

The answer is murky, but the picture of a post-injury Thompson is becoming a bit clearer.

With the Warriors sitting second in the Western Conference, here is what we’ve learned about the 32-year-old Splash Brother since his return and the role he may play the rest of the season.

Thompson the shooter

Thompson made his mark on the league as a prolific 3-point shooter, but a scan through his numbers might indicate he hasn’t been quite himself post-injuries. In 17 games since his grand return on Jan. 9, Thompson is shooting 38.5% from 3 – pedestrian compared to the 42% career average he maintained before tearing his ACL in 2019.

Numbers may not mean much, though. Not only has he been working with minutes restrictions – 20 minutes at first, upped to 30 on Feb. 7 – but Thompson wasted no time proving he can still fire up his hot hand.

He had his first big shooting night against the Sacramento Kings, going 7-for-9 beyond the arc. The weekend before the All-Star break, Thompson sank three fourth-quarter 3-pointers and scored 33 points to send Golden State to a thrilling win over the Lakers. And while he’s had plenty of cold shooting nights, he’s had five games scoring at least 20 points and three games with at least five 3-pointers. There’s rust to shake off, but the shooting is there.

“He’s going about his business,” Steph Curry said after the game against Los Angeles. “Then everything, possession after possession, starts to flow. It’s an amazing show. We’ve all seen it before, and we’ll see it again. I’m happy that he’s back able to do it.”

Thompson the playmaker

Thompson’s impact since his return has gone beyond 3-point shooting. He’s picked up the slack on playmaking in Draymond Green’s absence, creating offense for his teammates – and himself.

What does that mean, exactly? Thompson – the player famous for scoring 60 points on 11 dribbles – is handling the ball and moving it to his teammates far more than he did in previous seasons. Skills he’s said he “always had in his bag,” even if he didn’t use them much before.

“Steve (Kerr) was just holding me back, man,” Thompson joked after a win in January. “He didn’t let me handle the ball. The last time I handled the ball that much was in college, but in high school, I played the point a lot.”

Thompson’s scoring tells the story – 19% of his points were unassisted in the 2018-19 season compared to 30% this season. He’s also passing more, upping his assist average to pace for 3 assists per game over the 2.3 he averaged over his eight previous seasons, even though he’s currently averaging 10 minutes less of court time.

Thompson used to be the only catch-and-shoot option on the Warriors roster, but he returned to a team that’s replicated that skill with Otto Porter Jr., Andrew Wiggins and others. Thompson recognizes his responsibility to move the ball to them, too.

Of course, Thompson’s proclivity for playmaking could dip again when Green and Andre Iguodala return from injury. But it’s been a skill unexpectedly easy for Thompson to pull out of his bag.

Thompson the defender

With two major surgeries in a matter of two years, there was concern that Thompson would not be able to defend again at a high level. While Thompson has never looked physically limited, he hasn’t been tasked to guard opposing teams’ best players.

After Thompson’s first five games, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Thompson’s defense wasn’t at “the same level” as it was before his injuries, and that he “didn’t see how there would be a chance for him to be at the same level at this stage” after two years off.

While Green is the team’s defensive engine, Wiggins has taken on the primary responsibility as the “tough assignment” defender, Thompson’s typical matchup before his injuries. In certain matchups, rookie Jonathan Kuminga has gotten the tough assignments – he guarded New York’s Julius Randle and the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James.

Thompson has improved significantly on defense since his return, and in January Kerr indicated an expectation that Thompson would be back to the tough assignments at some point. Not yet, though.

“We’re trying to ease him back defensively, too. But I think overall, physically, he’s feeling great and he’s looking really good,” Kerr said. “I think over the course of the next few months, he’s just going to get better and better.

Thompson the showman

While he didn’t hold much back in celebrating title wins and historic moments, Thompson was never quite the team extrovert. Lately, he’s been reveling in home crowd cheers, away crowd sneers and even the media focus since his return.

The crowds at Chase Center shower him with applause whenever he checks in and out of games. They go wild when he hits a 3-pointer and ballistic when he starts to get hot from beyond the arc. Thompson acknowledges the crowd now, sometimes a little too much – like when he celebrated a 3-pointer well out of game action against the Kings well before coach Alvin Gentry called timeout.

Thompson has always been a fiendish competitor, but he has a rekindled competitive fire under his feet – he’s not letting any of the game’s highs go by unacknowledged.