Stephen Curry is now eligible to negotiate an extension with the Warriors, and the next move could shape not just his future in Golden State, but the team’s path back toward contention.
As of Saturday, Curry can sign a two-year, $136.7 million extension with the Warriors. On paper, that’s the obvious max. In reality, the case here is for something much different: a meaningful discount if he wants to give the franchise its best shot at another title run.
That’s not a small ask for a player of Curry’s stature. He remains the face of the franchise, still brings enormous value beyond the box score, and when healthy is still arguably a top 10 player in the league. He’d be fully justified in taking every dollar available.
But the Warriors are staring at a chance to reshape the roster next summer, when they project to have max cap space. A lighter Curry number would only widen that lane and give them more room to rebuild around him.
The comparison hanging over all of this is LeBron James, who just headed to the Philadelphia 76ers on a two-year, $7.9 million contract. Curry can’t take that kind of minimum deal unless he waits until free agency, which would create its own mess of speculation and uncertainty around whether he stays in Golden State at all. If the season goes sideways, that path opens the door to far more questions than answers.
The cleaner option is available now. Under CBA rules, Curry can take 40% less than his current $62.6 million salary, which works out to roughly $37.5 million. That would still be a huge number, but it would also be a real discount from the max and would help the Warriors keep their books cleaner.
If Curry went that route and Golden State also chose to take the $3 million cap hit instead of guaranteeing Kristaps Porzingis’ $20 million contract, the Warriors would have less than $80 million committed. That figure could drop even further if Al Horford and/or De'Anthony Melton declined their player options.
That kind of flexibility would give the Warriors plenty to work with next summer, and they’d also have the option of using the expiring contracts of Jimmy Butler and/or Draymond Green to make a bigger swing before February’s mid-season deadline.
However it plays out, Curry taking less money would give Golden State a better chance to rebuild around him. And for a two-time MVP still chasing another championship, that may be the clearest route left.
In Other News...
Yaxel Lendeborg Just Got The Perfect Rookie Year Motivation
ESPNs latest Rookie of the Year poll gave Cam Boozer the edge in a crowded first-year class, and it also left Golden State rookie Yaxel Lendeborg outside the top five. For a player who arrived as the 11th pick and has already looked like one of the Warriors more polished young pieces in Summer League, that kind of early omission can serve as fuel. Lendeborg has been part of a promising start in Golden State, helping push the roster to a Summer League championship and giving the franchise a glimpse of a rookie who seems eager to carve out a real role.
The added wrinkle is a budding competition with Boozer, who got the national nod and already met Lendeborg on the floor this summer. Lendeborg said the matchup gave him motivation to prove the projection wrong, and the Warriors will likely enjoy that edge if it travels beyond July. For a team always looking for young players who bring both production and a chip on their shoulder, this is the sort of under-the-radar rivalry worth watching as the season approaches. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Dynasty Nearly Started With One Veterans Warning
Before the Warriors became the leagues defining dynasty, there was a real question hanging over the franchise after a painful 2014 playoff exit about whether the group had already reached its ceiling. Former executive Bob Myers recently revisited that moment on a podcast with Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter, describing how one veteran around the team saw the disappointment differently, reading it as proof the core was close rather than broken.
The warning mattered because the next step was not obvious at the time, and the temptation to rework the roster would have been easy to understand. Instead, the Warriors stayed the course, and the season that followed became the start of a championship run that changed the franchises history, with that veteran eventually stepping away as the dynasty was taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Bob Myers Just Reminded Warriors Fans What Golden State Lost
Bob Myers spent years at the center of the Warriors rise, and even in a new chapter with the Philadelphia 76ers, he still sounds like someone looking back on a run that defined an era in Golden State. The former general manager was a key architect of four championships, helping draft foundational pieces and bringing in Steve Kerr to guide a team that became one of the NBAs modern standards.
In a recent interview, Myers talked about his tenure with the franchise and the part he says he misses most from those years, which is the part no front-office title can really replace. It is a reminder that for all the trophies and roster moves, the bond with Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala was a big part of what made the whole thing work, and why the separation still carries some weight. [Read more 🡒]