Stephen Curry, already the highest paid player in the NBA next season, agreed to a one-year contract extension worth a whopping $62.6 million that keeps him with the Warriors through 2027, when he’ll be 39.
His contract now lines up with Draymond Green’s, giving those Warriors a “beginning of the end” vibe — which Curry wants no part of. He wants to win again in Golden State. The extension is a vote of confidence in the Warriors front office — the one that signed and traded Klay Thompson to Dallas this offseason — and a reminder that he wants to finish his career in the Bay Area. However, it is to win that he wants above all, he told Marcus Thompson II of The Soccer Club.
“It’s no different from my perspective,” Curry told The Athletic. “You have an appreciation for the position and the opportunity and the support of people who have been with you on the journey. I’ve always said I wanted to play for one team my whole career. So it’s good to get (the extension) asked outside the road and give complete focus to basketball and to the season…
“It’s still about winning,” Curry said, “and taking the necessary steps to give us a chance. The standard hasn’t changed. The expectation hasn’t changed.”
Curry finally says I may have overreached, but that doesn’t take the pressure off Mike Dunlevey Jr. and from the office to make this list a winner.
Winning with these Warriors will not be easy. The Warriors finished 10th in the West last season with 46 wins. While I’d argue they’ve gotten a little better this offseason — replacing Thompson with DeAnthony Melton and Buddy Hield, plus adding Kyle Anderson — they’re not a threat to Oklahoma City, Dallas, Minnesota and Denver at the top of the conference. The bigger problem is the teams the Warriors are chasing, especially the Thunder, are younger and improving.
To win at the highest levels, the Warriors finally have to make a bold move to put another high-level shot creator next to Curry (and no, it won’t be LeBron James, he just extended in Los Angeles for some reason). The Warriors have first-round draft picks, good young players (Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski, if it’s the right deal) and equal salary (Andrew Wiggins) to make a big trade, but it will have to be one that works for them. So far, that player and trade has not happened.
Which means all those people mentioned as potential trade pieces need to step up for the Warriors to win more this season. Draymond Green must stay on the court, Wiggins must consistently return to the 2022 version of himself, and the youth movement of Kuminga and Podziemski must take a step forward. The Warriors don’t have much margin for error, but a top six finish is possible if everything breaks their way.
That may not be the win Curry dreams of, but it’s a start. Just know the fire is still there with Curry, something he showed during the Paris Olympics.
