Stephen Curry commits to Warriors, but how will the team improve around him?

Stephen Curry, celebrating his gold medal at the Paris Olympics, agreed to a monster extension with the Warriors. (Photo by Tom Weller/VOIGT/GettyImages)

Stephen Curry can keep his feet on the neck of the Golden State Warriors front office while cashing in on his rightful leverage in the meantime as he enters the twilight of his career.

The compelling final two games of the Summer Olympics in Paris showed he’s still capable of producing on-call captivating moments and greatness in clutch situations. But the Warriors haven’t surrounded him with a cast worthy of contention, winning one playoff series since their championship triumph in 2022.

It behooves Curry to sign that one-year deal that will net him $62.7 million, which was first reported by ESPN. It keeps him under contract through the 2026-27 season, when he will turn 39 years old — and that sprawling newish building in San Francisco will still stay full in the meantime.

Who knows if the visuals of Curry and LeBron James during the Olympic Games stirred the anxieties of Warriors ownership, sensing an opportunity could present itself if Curry got so fed up with being closer to the bottom of the West than the top. But if so, it could be the first sign management will actually push chips to the center of the table — because all Curry truly wants is a chance to bark in the same yard as the new dogs in the conference.

It was revealed the Warriors’ trade deadline interest in James was indeed very real, and James’ representation put a stop to exploratory talks going further. If nothing else, it showed the Warriors were serious about big-game hunting — which was confirmed even more when they tried to break up the inevitable Paul George-Philadelphia 76ers marriage a couple months ago. And it will take something seismic to elevate the Warriors past a play-in tournament spot. They’re too good to rebuild, and with Curry, too entertaining to leave off national television, but they’re not good enough to fear in a championship situation.

And Curry still played 74 games last season, winning Clutch Player of the Year and making All-NBA Third Team, so his game…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-08-29 19:35:02

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