Thompson Achilles surgery successful

Warriors guard Klay Thompson underwent surgery in Los Angeles on Wednesday to repair his torn right Achilles tendon, the team announced. He is expected to make a full recovery.

Dr. Richard Ferkel, who has worked with such NBA players as Ricky Rubio, DeMarcus Cousins, Joel Embiid, Wesley Matthews and Stephen Curry, performed the surgery. Thompson has already been ruled out for the 202021 season, and he is expected to face a nine to 12month recovery process.

Given that he already hasn’t played an NBA game in 17 months because of a torn ACL he suffered in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, he will end up going well more than two years away from the court. This is a crushing blow — not just to Thompson personally, but to the Warriors as a whole.

Before Thompson tore his Achilles last week during a pickup game in Los Angeles, Golden State was wellpositioned to return to contention this season. Now, with him sidelined yet again, the Warriors probably will have a tough time doing more than competing for homecourt advantage in the playoffs.

Though the additions of Kelly Oubre Jr., Brad Wanamaker and Kent Bazemore should bolster Golden State’s wing depth, the Warriors know there is no way to truly replace Thompson. His shooting range, defense and selflessness were a driving force behind the team’s recent dynasty.

With Thompson out for the season, the Warriors have applied for a $9.3 million disabled player exception that would allow the team to sign a player to a oneyear deal or trade for someone with one year left on his contract without using salarycap space.