The Warriors have already checked off a couple of offseason boxes, adding Georges Niang and Brandon Williams on one-year deals to finish out their 15-man roster. The bigger decision still hanging over the franchise is Stephen Curry’s next contract.
Curry is in the final year of his current deal, and Golden State wants to keep him in place through the end of his career. That could happen as soon as Saturday, when both sides could agree to an extension. The team has the option to lock him into a two-year deal worth nearly $140 million.
But the timing comes with a real basketball question attached. Golden State, as it stands, is not being viewed as a serious title team.
The roster is older, last season was hit hard by injuries, and there’s a growing sense that the dynasty may simply be winding down. The Warriors did win the title in 2022, but the current version of the team doesn’t look built the same way.
Curry is 38. Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler are also on the wrong side of 30.
Kristaps Porzingis barely played for them last season. Each of those names has dealt with injuries over the past couple of years, which only adds to the uncertainty around where this group is headed.
That’s why the extension debate has become so interesting. If Curry signs now, he secures the massive payday and stays a Warrior. If he waits, there may be another route that gives Golden State more flexibility.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst laid out that case, saying Curry could hold off and leave the Warriors room to work next summer. “I have argued that it should be considered that Steph doesn’t sign the extension yet.
If he chooses to sign right now, he could get two years at $140 million. Obviously, if that’s what he says he wants, you give it to him.
But if he doesn’t sign his contract extension right now, the Warriors could have over $100 million in salary cap space next summer,” Windhorst suggested.
Windhorst added that Curry’s extension window is about to open: “There’s still players becoming contract extension eligible. By next week you’ll start to see Steph Curry’s name come up. On the 29th of August he’s extension eligible for…”
It’s a tempting idea for a team trying to find one more path back to contention. The downside is obvious, too: if Curry doesn’t extend now, the risk of him leaving for another team next year goes up.
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Iguodala had been one of the defining veterans of the Warriors championship core, which made the move especially difficult from Myers perspective. He sent Iguodala to the Memphis Grizzlies, though Iguodala never played a game there and was later dealt to the Miami Heat, a reminder of how transactional these deals can be once they leave the building. For Myers, the episode underscored the hard edge of team-building, where loyalty matters, but timing and cap mechanics usually matter more. [Read more 🡒]
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The tension now is less about what Curry has done than what the Warriors can realistically offer him going forward. Golden State is staring at a difficult roster picture, and the usual routes to a quick reset are not especially open, which makes the next step in Currys future more complicated than it once seemed. For a player whose name has always been tied to loyalty as much as winning, the question hanging over the season is how long that bond can carry before the decision becomes more urgent. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Can Feel Even Better About The Kuminga Trade Now
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Golden State also gets the benefit of seeing how the other pieces settled after the shuffle, and that context matters when weighing who came out ahead. Porzingis remains the central figure in the Warriors' end of the trade, while the contract math and team roles around the deal leave Golden State with plenty of reason to feel good about how the move has aged. [Read more 🡒]