No, Klay Thompson wasn't snubbed by All-NBA voters

Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson will have a chance to win a fourth NBA championship ring against either the Raptors or Bucks next month, but he received some bad news from the media Thursday when the All-NBA teams were revealed. Thompson failed to make any All-NBA team in 2019, and as a result, he will not be eligible to sign a supermax contract with the Warriors this summer.

Thompson received zero votes for first-team All-NBA, three votes for second-team, and 18 votes for third-team, leaving him second in points among players who didn’t make any team, behind only Bradley Beal (34 points). When informed that he finished behind Beal and third-teamer Kemba Walker, Thompson responded with an exasperated eye-roll.

It’s natural that Thompson believes he’s one of the six-best guards in the league, and Warriors fans could make a legitimate argument that he’s among the best shooters in NBA history – but that doesn’t mean he’s a qualified All-NBA selection in 2019.

The best argument in favor of Thompson is that he could be putting up monster numbers in a different situation, but we don’t hand out awards based on potential.  The reality is that Thompson is the third offensive option on a loaded team, he didn’t match his output from his All-NBA seasons in 2015 and 2016, and he’s simply not as impactful as all of the guards that finished ahead of him. Let’s take a look at where Thompson ranks among the NBA’s best in a few key statistics:

• 20th in scoring at (21.5 ppg)
• 9th in 3PM per game (3.1)
• 145th in assists (2.4 apg)
• 68th in steals (1.1 spg)
• 75th in PER (16.6)
• 81st in TS% (.571)
• 79th in offensive win shares (2.9)
• 82nd in defensive win shares (2.3)
• 79th in total win shares (5.3)
• 107th in win shares/48 (.095)
• 136th in VORP (0.8)
• 0 double-doubles

(If you’re wondering, third-team guard Kemba Walker ranked 27th in PER, 34th in total win shares and 17th in VORP. Russell Westbrook ranked 6th in PER, 41st in total win shares and 6th in VORP. Oh, and he led the league in assists and averaged a triple-double.)

Case closed.