Klay Thompson season-ending injury changes Warriors NBA title odds, SportsLine Projection Model 2021 forecast

Wednesday was supposed to be a great day for the Golden State Warriors franchise as the team was going to add a young, promising piece in the 2020 NBA Draft to a core group of All-Stars Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. The Dubs were expected to return to title contention this coming NBA season. Alas, those dreams are all but dashed with the official news that Thompson did as feared suffer a season-ending torn Achilles' tendon early Wednesday in a pickup game. Golden State's NBA futures odds have changed dramatically at William Hill Sportsbook as did its outlook via the SportsLine Projection Model.

While Curry gets all the publicity on the Warriors, Thompson is by far the better all-around player because he's nearly Curry's match as a three-point shooter and one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and Curry is definitely not a good defender.

Thompson, a five-time All-Star and one-time member of the NBA's All-Defensive Team, sat out the entire 2019-20 season after tearing the ACL in his left knee during Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, and Golden State flat-lined to an NBA-worst 15-50 record (Curry also missed much of the year injured). The Dubs didn't win the draft lottery and dropped to second, where they picked Memphis center James Wiseman on Wednesday as we predicted.

The Warriors don't have any salary-cap room to make major moves because of huge contracts belonging to Thompson, Curry, Green and Andrew Wiggins. Golden State does have a $17.3 million traded player exception, though, from the Andre Iguodala trade. It's fair to wonder if this team's championship window is closed because returning 100 percent from a torn ACL and now a torn Achilles' tendon could be impossible for Thompson or any player in missing two full seasons.

At William Hill and with a healthy Thompson, the Warriors had been +500 to win the Western Conference (third-favorites) and +1000 for the NBA title. Thompson was +6000 to win league MVP. Now, the Dubs are +1000 in the West and +2000 for a championship.

In addition, both Los Angeles teams saw their respective odds get shorter because the Warriors aren't as much of a threat. The Lakers went from +175 to +150 in the West and +350 to +325 to repeat as NBA champions, while the Clippers dropped from +280 to +260 in the West and +650 to +550 to win their first-ever title.

The SportsLine Projection Model (see below), meanwhile, ranked the Warriors as the No. 7 overall team in its Power Rankings with Thompson and with an 89 percent chance of returning to the playoffs to No. 19 in the league sans Klay and just a 25.9 percent chance of the playoffs in the ultra-deep West.

William Hill is expected to release NBA Over/Under win totals any day now for the 72-game season; the model has dropped Golden State to 34.4 victories.