He’s been eligible for a contract extension for nearly a month and has likely been discussing terms with the Golden State Warriors for longer than that. Still, Steph Curry says that the delay in his signing an extension in no way suggests he’s wavering on his “obvious goal” of playing with the Warriors for his entire career.
There’s no reason to debate what Curry deserves after delivering four championships to the Warriors, who are worth roughly 25x what they were before he arrived. If he wants to take a max deal for two seasons, the Warriors are going to pay it, and we’ll get a big retirement tour, complete with a heartfelt, scrappy battle for a play-in spot. He’d also have the chance to get a rare no-trade clause, not that it seems likely the Warriors would trade him without his cooperation.
But it certainly sounds like Curry isn’t going to simply take as much money as possible, or he would have already done it. Speaking to ESPN, he made it clear he wants to resolve his contract situation before the season and have “No drama, no talking points.”
It’s an interesting conundrum, because while the Warriors have limited options for improving next season if Curry takes a max, which would lower their potential cap space from over $100M to around $45M, with the contracts of Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, and Kristaps Porzingis all expiring. That’s a huge difference, but it comes with a lot of questions.
- Do the Warriors have a plan to exploit all that cap space?
It’s all well and good to create cap space and options, and the Warriors have a mixed record in exploiting that. Clearing money in the summer of 2016 and landing Kevin Durant? A-plus. Amassing a collection of tradeable deals and trading for Jimmy Butler in 2025, after striking out on a Durant return? Solid B-plus. Getting Green to opt out of his deal and standing pat while waiting for LeBron James this year? D-minus.
2. Where do the Warriors spend that money?
The list of unrestricted free agents available next season is unexciting. The biggest prize would look to be 22-year-old All-NBA center Jalen Duren, but even with his contentious negotiations this summer, it’s hard to believe the Detroit Pistons would let a 22-year-old All-NBA center hit unrestricted free agency. As long as the Denver Nuggets don’t implode, Nikola Jokic is unlikely to be going anywhere, nor is Giannis Antetokounmpo after the Miami Heat emptied the chamber of picks and players to get him.
The best player who could be available is Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks, who is quite good indeed! Towns is an underrated defender and perhaps the best-shooting center in NBA history, which allows his teams a lot of flexibility in who plays around him. Head coach Mike Brown and the Knicks offense unlocked a previously-unknown level of passing from Towns during their title run. Towns has a $61M player option for 2027-28 but extension talks with the Knicks have reportedly stalled.
Beyond Towns, the players who can opt out of their 2027-28 deals tend to be older: Jrue Holiday, Kyrie Irving, Paul George, Julius Randle, Damian Lillard, and Rudy Gobert. On the younger side, Jalen Green of the Phoenix Suns has a player option, as does Bennedict Mathurin of the New Orleans Pelicans. And if the Warriors want to bang their head against the same wall, Durant and James can both become free agents.
3. How good could the Warriors be if Steph Curry played for the minimum?
$100M is really a lot of money, and opens up a lot of options for trades, signings, sign-and-trades. Should the team have extra money, they’ve got more to work with, in front of a roster that would have Curry, Al Horford, Yaxel Lendeborg, Gui Santos, plus whoever they sign or trade for. And a lot of question marks beyond that.
4. What about Brandin Podziemski?
Going into his fourth year, Podziemski is eligible for a rookie extension. But as we’ve seen with Jonathan Kuminga, teams have far more leverage than players until they can hit unrestricted free agency, much less restricted status. The Warriors have very little motivation to lock up Podz early unless they get a discount. Even if he’s facing restricted free agency in the summer of 2027, the cap hold for Podziemski should be around $17M, which could be similar to what he’d get in a long-term deal. If he signed for less than that for 2027-28, it would mean even more cap savings.
5. How long do the Warriors and Curry have to decide?
Technically Curry can sign an extension at any time during the season, but his “no drama” comments indicate he’d like to wrap things up before the season begins. But at least for now, the idea of Curry leaving in free agency doesn’t seem to be something he’s considering. It’s up to the front office to convince him that if he gives up money, they’ll actually do something with the extra cap space.
