Warriors' Thompson: 'Hard for me to envision going anywhere else'

Klay Thompson is hoping to be one of the exceedingly rare NBA players who spends their entire career with one franchise.

The All-Star shooting guard was drafted 11th overall by the Golden State Warriors in 2011 and has been a key contributor to the team's growth and monumental success ever since. Thompson, who's a year away from free agency, recently reflected on how he helped the Warriors go from a lottery team to a two-time champion.

"I was part of building this culture," the 28-year-old marksman told Bleacher Report's Ric Bucher when asked about potentially joining another team. "It wouldn't be leaving everything I worked for behind, but it would be a whole new start. I was one of the pioneers of this. I'm one of the longest-tenured players here besides Steph (Curry), so I'm very prideful of the turnaround the Warriors have made.

"Just because I'm not the face of the franchise doesn't mean I'm not recognized for it. Real fans and the people in the organization and my peers around the league, they see the work I've put in and realize I've been a huge component to the success here for the last five, six, seven years, so I have an identity here. It would be hard for me to envision going anywhere else."

Golden State has already made a substantial commitment to lock up Curry through 2021-22 and Draymond Green until 2019-20, and the team is also expected to pony up for Kevin Durant in free agency this summer. It's unclear whether the Warriors will be able to keep their core of four All-NBA talents in their primes together given the restraints of the salary cap.

Thompson averaged 20 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists over 73 regular-season games and is owed $19 million in 2018-19. The elite two-way guard and the Warriors are looking to make their fourth straight trip to the NBA Finals, needing one more win in the Western Conference semifinals to knock off the New Orleans Pelicans.