SAN FRANCISCO — The Golden State Warriors are still hopeful Stephen Curry will sign an extension before next season begins. Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. made that clear during a video conference call with reporters on Tuesday afternoon.
“I think there’s two things I’m confident about with Steph,” Dunleavy said. “He really, really wants to win. And he wants to finish his career as a Warrior. And I don’t think that changes tomorrow, August 29th, the start of the season, the middle of the season, the end of next season. I think those things are gonna be consistent.”
Curry, 38, is entering into the final year of a max deal worth almost $63 million. After the season ended in April, he expressed an openness to completing an extension. Dunleavy reiterated that point again, noting the window regarding discussions for a new deal doesn’t open until August 29th. Curry, who is entering his 18th season, has repeatedly said through the years he wants to play his whole career with the Warriors. Dunleavy said he’s been given no indication from Curry that his stance has changed, even despite the Warriors failing to qualify for the playoffs last season.
“That’s always been the message,” Dunleavy said. “That’s always been sort of been what we’ve discussed. I think that’s tracking quite well. Obviously, he’s eligible for an extension coming up at the end of this month, and we’ll talk through all that stuff and can’t speak on it much right now, but I’m pretty confident Steph will finish his career here. But ultimately, it’s his call, his decision. Whether that’s allowing his contract to run out and move on or look, if he comes to me and wants to be moved (Warriors owner) Joe (Lacob) and I will talk it through. We wouldn’t love it, but he’s earned the right to (go) where he wants and do those things. But as far as the messaging or any idea that he would be anywhere else, that’s not a thing we’re looking at or he’s looking at.”
Curry played in just 43 games last season due to a persistent runner’s knee issue. It’s an injury the veteran guard knows he’ll deal with in the final stages of his career and something Dunleavy said the Warriors would have to “manage” and “be mindful of” throughout the season.
When Will Steph Curry retire?
As the cap-strapped Warriors failed to add new pieces this summer besides No. 11 pick Yaxel Lendeborg, fans and media have speculated about Curry possibly pushing to play somewhere else in the final years of his career. But the future Hall of Famer has never indicated that, and Dunleavy remains confident the Warriors, despite this summer’s inactivity, can eventually make more moves to help Curry down the line.
“We’re super aggressive,” Dunleavy said. “If people knew the cold calls I made offering a lot of stuff for players, I think they’d realize how hard we’re trying. And frankly, it’s not as much the guys that end up getting moved. There’s a lot of guys that we really, really value that don’t get moved, and that’s probably because those teams (feel the same). I think we call on the guys we really think can make an impact and change our direction. But that’s the nature of every offseason, every trade deadline. That’s the way it works. I think as we get into this season, the trade deadline, the Dec. 15 date, I’m confident in our ability to do deals if we need to based on a couple things.”
Dunleavy offered two reasons for that optimism.
“One, we’ve done them in the past,” he said. “So, we have experience with that. But then, I think if you just look at our books, our assets, all that stuff, we’ve got a lot of ways to entice teams and make things available and worthwhile for them to do a trade with us. So, for those reasons, I feel pretty confident that if we have to improve the roster in the middle of the season, we can.”
In other updates, Dunleavy said there was no timeline for the return of injured swingmen Jimmy Butler (torn ACL) and Moses Moody (ruptured patellar tendon) as they continue their respective rehabs. Dunleavy remains hopeful that the Warriors can come to terms with fourth-year guard Brandin Podziemski on a rookie extension before the new season begins.
“That’s important to us,” Dunleavy said. “We really value Brandin. He’s a player that for all the things he does well, most importantly he impacts winning. When he’s on the court, we’re a better team. So, any time you got a guy like that you want to be able to keep him around. Obviously, we have multiple ways to do it through extension and restricted free agency and all that, but we’d prefer to get it done sooner than later. We really like Brandin. He’s done a terrific job for us, and he’s a big part of our program.”
Dunleavy also said the Warriors are hopeful that Draymond Green will also remain with the organization until he retires. Green recently re-signed with the Warriors on a one-year deal after Golden State failed to recruit LeBron James. Dunleavy appreciated Green’s flexibility and reiterated that, as Golden State seeks to keep its two future Hall of Famers together until the end.
“Draymond’s been an incredible partner for our organization, both on and off the court, for his career,” Dunleavy said. “This summer was no different with his ability to opt out of the deal, it gave us some wiggle room, some financial flexibility. And we worked together on that and I don’t think there was ever a doubt he’d be back, but he’s always been about the team … he’s no different than Steph in the sense of we hope he retires a Warrior. We want to make that happen, he wants to make it happen, so we’ll see where things go. Our number one priority right now Draymond will say this, Steph will say this, everybody here will say this, is to win.”
