The Golden State Warriors are drifting back toward a conversation fans know all too well: whether the franchise is truly built to squeeze every last championship chance out of Stephen Curry, or whether it’s already eyeing life after him.
Warriors insider Tim Kawakami put the issue bluntly on his show: "What [Joe] Lacob wants to do, and this might get Warriors fans mad, but he wants to build the next team after Steph Curry. I don't know how possible that is, but Lacob has a very keen interest."
That idea cuts straight against what many assumed this offseason was supposed to be about. When Golden State was linked to players like Jimmy Butler and Kristaps Porzingis, the natural read was simple: the Warriors were going all-in on Curry and trying to maximize whatever prime years he has left. But if building the post-Steph future is just as high a priority, that changes the whole picture.
It also brings back a familiar and uncomfortable theme from this era of Warriors basketball: the two-timeline approach. For a team with a generational star, that kind of balancing act has always felt risky, and now it’s back in the conversation.
Curry is not the player he was at the absolute peak of his powers. But he is still an elite star, the kind of player who can tilt a game and still make every opponent uneasy.
That’s exactly why the Warriors’ direction matters so much. Wasting even a slice of that remaining window would be a costly mistake.
There’s a warning sign here, and it comes from a place Warriors fans would rather not revisit: the Los Angeles Lakers model. Golden State doesn’t have many fans of LeBron James after the all-time great passed on a move to the Warriors this offseason, but the comparison still fits. James remained elite for most of his Lakers run, yet Los Angeles never fully surrounded him with the kind of support that made the most of those fading but still dangerous years after 2020.
That’s the danger for Golden State now. Curry has been carrying too much of the load while the supporting cast has ranged from mediocre to downright disappointing in recent seasons. The result has been a stretch of mediocrity, even as Curry keeps adding to his individual résumé with All-Star selections, All-NBA honors and a Clutch Player of the Year award.
What he hasn’t gotten is the kind of meaningful team success that should come with a player of his stature. Instead, the years have piled up with more failed star pursuits, with James, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jaylen Brown among the latest names to surface.
The hard truth is that pushing all-in on Curry may leave the Warriors in a rough spot after he retires. But that’s the tradeoff when you have a generational player. The chance to chase championship No. 5 in the Curry era should matter more than protecting against the possibility of being average later.
Right now, though, that priority doesn’t seem fully settled in Golden State.
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The organizations stance is not expected to be static forever, either. The Warriors long-term thinking could shift depending on how Butler looks after he returns, which makes his next stretch of basketball about more than just getting healthy. For a team trying to balance present-day ambitions with future flexibility, Butlers comeback may end up carrying more weight than a typical midseason return. [Read more 🡒]