Stephen Curry decision time
Remain a Warrior, or contend?
Jimmy Butler, Stephen Curry’s highly paid Warriors sidekick, tore his right ACL.
This is not the end of Stephen Curry’s Warriors as contenders—that was a few years ago. But this is the end of the last figment of an illusion that this organization might again deliver Curry to his happy place: crunch time of a deep playoff run.
There, he is the most magical performer in NBA history.
It’s not that the Warriors aren’t plausibly okay. It’s that we’re in an era akin to Michael Jordan’s prime in Chicago. It’s tough luck for everybody else; the Thunder will win the West. And if they don’t, it happens that competent teams in Denver, Houston, San Antonio, and Minnesota are amassed and ready to seize the opportunity.
There just isn’t room for Steph-and-a-dream. This thing that we all loved is over. It’s time to mourn one of the NBA’s great marriages, between this team and that player.
The choice now, for Steph mainly, but also for the Warriors organization, is what to do with his remaining years. Is this a story primarily about Steph in that uniform, or is it about in big-game moments? If it’s the latter, then what a miracle, for Steph and the Warriors, that Jimmy’s season ended a few weeks before, and not a few weeks after, the trade deadline.
Somehow, at age 37, Steph is, right now according to Dunks and Threes, the second-most productive offensive player in the NBA and the seventh-most productive player overall, ahead of Luka Dončić, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James and almost every other famous player. The clock is ticking loudly, but Stephen Curry could absolutely lead a contending team on a deep playoff team this year.
The Warriors simply don’t have that team. They didn’t, and now that they have lost Butler. Butler is part of almost every elite Warriors lineup. According to Cleaning the Glass, Jimmy makes the Warriors about six points better on offense and about four points better on defense. To everyone who wants to squint and tell me about how the Warriors might surprise some people with Gui Santos, I want to very politely praise the Warriors’ quiet collection of young players, and ask you to knock it off. It’s unkind to defile this proud team with hocus pocus.
In 2023, David Thorpe wondered what would happen if Curry asked the team to trade him somewhere he could win. David proposed trading Stephen Curry to the 76ers for Tyrese Maxey, the expiring contract of Tobias Harris, and two first-round picks. Curry would have paired with the then-reigning MVP Joel Embiid, and right now the Warriors would be delighted to have Maxey, who has his own MVP potential. No way Maxey is available now; he’s two years better, and Curry is two years closer to the end.
This is the decision Steph has to make right now. There’s immense comfort in routine. Maybe Steph loves the schools, the friends, the house, the coach, and everything about his Bay Area lifestyle. I respect it. Stay if you want. These are the choices we make in life.
But it was only 2024, 18 months ago, when Steph packed his bags for Paris and danced through a magical Olympic run. He sealed the gold medal, over Victor Wembanyama and France, with a side-dribble 3 through a double-team, followed by that little nap-time gesture.
That wasn’t a Warriors moment. But it was very much a Steph moment. And maybe that kind of thing could happen again in the NBA playoffs.
If Steph tells the Warriors he wants to go play for a winner, odds are both the team and the player will win more over the next few years. The Warriors will get considerable picks, young players, and cap wiggle room to develop their next stars. And Steph might get to light up our TVs again in May.
It’s a trade machine game to figure out where that could be. Do your own research, but here’s what we came up with after a few minutes of messing around:
