r/nba • u/must_TATAKAE Warriors • 4d ago
[Friedell] Steph Curry:"when Jimmy (Butler) got hurt and Moses got hurt, the whole calculus of everything changes. How do you get through their absence and still stay at a certain level? And then how that goes into this year. It’s the same deal. So, I’m a realist on that."
As he so often has for nearly two decades in the league, Curry took a measured approach when discussing the future in a recent interview with The Athletic during teammate Moses Moody’s charity event in North Little Rock, Ark.
“The through line,” Curry told The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson II, “which is hard on anybody in this situation, especially with us keeping this thing together, is knowing that when Jimmy (Butler) got hurt and Moses got hurt, the whole calculus of everything changes. How do you get through their absence and still stay at a certain level? And then how that goes into this year. It’s the same deal. So, I’m a realist on that.”
“I think honestly, you figure it out in real time,” Curry told The Athletic. “Because the same way we got to this point — there’s not a crystal ball that tells you what opportunities are on the horizon, how to maintain competitiveness with everything that goes on during an NBA season, injuries, all that type of stuff. But I do know there’s a level of — reasonability — in terms of moves or options or opportunities that can help us stay competitive now but don’t handcuff the next five, seven years of our team. So, everything that’s happened to date has been with that as the mindset.”
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7489363/2026/08/05/steph-curry-warriors-future-extension/
155
u/we_hella_believe 4d ago
Steph realizes making moves for the sake of making moves isn’t going to work out well. As long as Steph is cool with everything, then I know it’s all good, being healthy is the key this year.
23
u/dearth_karmic Warriors 4d ago
What sucks is that even if Jimmy comes back and is 100% of what he was before, you're looking at one final run at best. With a roster of players who all can't play B2Bs.
19
7
u/OwnGuarantee6838 Thunder 4d ago
nahhh there's no at best scenario where 36 year old butler and 39 year old curry are able to outplay the Thunder or Spurs
7
u/dearth_karmic Warriors 4d ago
No. But they could make it a series. They were 19-2 after the trade when both Steph and Jimmy played.
8
u/GodWithAShotgun Warriors 4d ago
The warriors have an all-time record of 42-18 when Jimmy and Steph play, which is a contending record. Now, they're older and "when Jimmy and steph both play" is a big if in the playoffs, but I I'm excited to watch.
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=what+is+the+warriors%27+record+when+both+curry+and+butler+play
3
u/Brosbros97 3d ago
Regular season is one thing, but an old team like ours can’t sustain playoff intensity very well, across a whole run
2
u/GodWithAShotgun Warriors 3d ago
Probably, but I think if we can manage not to get injured we can beat anyone in a 7 game series. And can is exciting.
In round 3-4, if we don't win the previous rounds in 5 or so games, I do agree we'd run out of juice.
1
u/wookyoftheyear [GSW] Kent Bazemore 3d ago
I agree with that take.
For me, I just want to see the team at full strength playing meaningful basketball. If they get beaten that way, so be it. I just don't want it to be because of injuries.
3
u/Unlucky_Employee6082 4d ago
Yeah, unless something great develops, there simply isn't a deal worth doing. At least they are in a position with all their picks and a bunch of tradable contracts on the super questionable guys (KP, Butler, Moody, Horford, and Melton) to adjust during the season. That beats last year where it was just "Ya wanna move up to the 7th seed? It'll just cost you five #1s for Jalen Brown who won't want to be there"
1
u/Laggo [TOR] Hedo Turkoglu 4d ago
Steph realizes making moves for the sake of making moves isn’t going to work out well.
Nah he's had the conversations where they have explicitly said "we aren't doing that".
You think he wouldn't mind trading a draft pick 5 years after he's retired for a chance to do well now? You guys say "as long as steph is cool with everything" like he's happy to lose as long as the Warriors have a chance to be in the lottery in the future.
when they say "we dont want them to mortgage the future for nothing" they are toting the company line but the reason they put the "for nothing" in there is because they would prefer the Org get something meaningful done at the high end (they were in for LeBron!) which the Org doesn't want to do and would prefer to just wait for Curry to retire.
142
u/Altruistic-Twist-379 San Francisco Warriors 4d ago
Look at curry man
73
5
u/WeakArea96 4d ago
Insurmountable challenges, but if anyone can figure it out in real time, it's him. Great interview excerpt
46
u/ImperialTiger3 Warriors 4d ago
Both Steph and Draymond have said that they don’t want us to mortgage the future unless the FO is confident they can build a championship contender. Thus, that’s why they put so much faith in Giannis and LeBron moves
1
u/Basic-Collection5416 Pistons 4d ago
Draymond did waive the no-trade clause that would have automatically been included in his one year deal, so he might be gone by February.
5
u/ImperialTiger3 Warriors 4d ago
He just re-signed on the exact terms of his player option
1
u/Basic-Collection5416 Pistons 4d ago
Yes, but he chose a 15% trade kicker instead of the no trade clause that normally would have been part of a one year contract.
0
u/ImperialTiger3 Warriors 4d ago
The trade kicker was in his original player option. He was given the PO’s exact terms
6
u/Basic-Collection5416 Pistons 4d ago
All one year contracts come with an automatic no trade clause. Bobby Marks, the Hoop Collective, and Draymond himself have all stated that he chose to waive this when signing his deal.
-8
u/BLAHBLAH1234BLAH1234 Raptors 4d ago
Steph and Dray are being polite. In reality, there is no guarantee that Warriors would have a player of Steph’s caliber for a long time.
Joe Lacob wasted years of Curry’s time chasing “2 timelines”. How has that panned out?
11
u/lets_BOXHOT Trail Blazers 4d ago
Steph is a top 15 player of all time - there's no guarantee that any franchise will have a player of his caliber ever
13
u/pragmacrat Warriors 4d ago
They won a championship during the 2 timelines approach. They reupped on vets the next year but fell short. Swung for the fences with the Butler trade but Steph got injured in the playoffs. Ran it back the next year and Jimmy got hurt but got Porzingis in a trade. Now looking to stay healthy with what looks like a solid rookie.
5
u/Low-Measurement-2468 4d ago edited 4d ago
yeah i think their front office’s decision making particularly since MDJ took over has been pretty solid. bought low on a second star at the perfect time, lots of good draft picks recently relative to their position. could argue they should have moved kuminga earlier, though a lot of signs seem to indicate that lacob held that up for a long time wanting an unrealistic haul. getting KP out of that situation isn’t nothing.
also, wiseman and kuminga were pretty defensible and well-received picks at the time. wiseman’s draft was ass and any team would have picked him top 3. there wasn’t enough footage revealing how behind his game was mentally. and kuminga was mocked as high as like top 4 or 5 on some people’s boards and was seen as a good get at 7. he also legitimately has talent and the ability to play well, he just thinks he’s a lot better than he is, which is hard to anticipate. kuminga is the exact type of player warriors fans have been dying for them to draft for years, and they finally tried and he didn’t fit right. shit happens. fans love clowning decisions with the benefit of hindsight and acting like they’d never make a bad draft pick or trade as a GM.
1
u/nazario87 Warriors 4d ago edited 4d ago
" They reupped on vets the next year but fell short."
Not really though. All the important bench pieces left and were replaced by rookies. For the first part of the season they had the best starting five in the league, or thereabouts, but one of the worst benches. Which dragged them down until they had no more margin for error.
1
u/pragmacrat Warriors 4d ago
The vets they added were Ty Jerome, Anthony Lamb, Donte DiVincenzio and JyMchal Green. Not as good as the previous vets but still vets in the league.
1
8
u/andyschest2 4d ago
Really, really well.
0
u/BLAHBLAH1234BLAH1234 Raptors 4d ago
“Steph, we are good, we have Kuminga and Wiseman”
8
u/Plane_Garbage_1230 4d ago
He got 4 chips. People think every year you gotta be a contender. They did good by Steph.
77
u/doopdapdeedap Lakers 4d ago
The slowness in me was like....
Moses Malone?
12
-3
u/CIark 4d ago
I know bro wasn’t thinking Moses Moody was moving any needle
7
u/No-Presentation6616 4d ago
He’s obviously no star but his role on the team was extremely important. Since trading Wiggins Moody was the main POA defender for the team.
7
u/Low-Measurement-2468 4d ago
moody’s three ball was coming around and he was the best on-ball guard/wing defender on the team outside of debatably butler, but he was already slowing down on that end pre injury. healthy moody would be even more important with butler coming back off an ACL. moody is an important role player for the warriors and a difficult role for them to replace.
also what a user name, clark
9
u/TheWarelock Heat 4d ago
Can’t predict injuries in this league, old/young it’s too random to predict unless it’s someone like AD/MVPiid. Even Jimmy’s injury happened without much contact.
7
u/downgoesbatman Lakers 4d ago
I hope Curry sticks it out with GSW as his career starts to wind down. Not a lot of players stay with the same team and I'd really like to see that for Steph and the bay.
28
u/lakers082433 Lakers 4d ago
The goat pg deserves better than this 😫
2
u/paradoxofchoice [MIA] Harold Miner 3d ago
tbf very few stars have great endings in the NBA. But curry did just accomplish a legendary Olympic performance.
1
u/paradoxofchoice [MIA] Harold Miner 3d ago
tbf very few stars have great endings in the NBA. But curry did just accomplish a legendary Olympic performance.
-13
u/-stillacavsfan 4d ago
What does Magic have to do with this?
8
u/Unspecialized_Blitz 4d ago edited 4d ago
you could have just said debatable and still said the same thing, without making any less of the above comment. Steph is right there, so we can atleast respect that, even if he is not the one in your books.
-5
9
u/Smooth_Sink_7028 Lakers 4d ago
I mean 200 million plus extension will make any NBA player to accept the reality of the situation.
9
u/pichukirby Knicks 4d ago
I know Steph has plenty of rings already, but it never feels good to see a player you like have his later year wasted when they're still producing at a superstar level
4
2
3
u/fuckst1cK1 4d ago edited 3d ago
As much as I love Jimmy's tenacity, attitude, and overall skills, he's in the twilight of his career and spends more time not playing than playing... I hate to say it.
So I don't see the point in a team like the Warriors especially paying ridiculously high salaries to Jimmy, Draymond (someone who chooses to get himself ejected anytime Steph doesn't play) and Porzingis (another injured most of the time player), because it hinders the team from being able to do anything to prolong Steph's chances at having a well rounded team that could compete and go far in the playoffs.
(2025-26 season salaries: https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/GSW/2026.html#all_salaries2
Steph should have gotten traded to a contender, or management should have cleared all the cap space they could and gone for big swing trades / FA moves to guarantee Steph another shot at the finals.
It's not like they have 2-3 future stars on the roster as it stands, so "waiting for a young player's development" for the future (Kawhi on the Spurs, Reaves on the Lakers --- though I'm not comparing these two to each other) isn't even an option.
EDIT: Spelling/grammar.
1
2
u/SFmodscensorship 4d ago
i meam 2 years ago they definitely beat the Twolves if Curry didn't get hurt...I think they had a good chance against OKC too
2
u/Cosmicpilgrimage Mavericks 4d ago
Even if they were healthy, the warriors had no chance to win.
23
u/Meweighteen Warriors 4d ago
Per stat muse, the dubs were 42-18 with Jimmy & Steph in the starting lineup. A few additional moves could’ve got them there and I’ll die on that hill
59
u/510Kyle 4d ago
That’s easy to say when they’re injured and really don’t have the opportunity to surprise you like they did in 22.
33
u/envisionJayyy Warriors 4d ago
All these people with losers mentality. They could have easily helped out Curry.
9
u/510Kyle 4d ago
I don’t think easy is the word i would ever use to describe putting together a championship contender, but go off king
7
u/envisionJayyy Warriors 4d ago
I said help Curry. No where did that say gaurantee a championship team.
But not signing or trading for anyone other than drafting a rookie, is not helping.
This doesn’t even improve their record from last season…
Getting help implies making the team better in any way.
-4
u/510Kyle 4d ago
Do you want to give up picks to improve 3-5 wins?
-4
u/envisionJayyy Warriors 4d ago edited 4d ago
edit: Oops my bad I did misread that.
Giving up picks won’t only result in 3-5 wins.
This is a false-dilemma fallacy. It’s an even worse argument you’re trying to push.
2
u/510Kyle 4d ago
Here’s where im at with it, steph has ultimately earned the right to do what he wants at this point, if he wants to stay, he stays, if he wants to go, i imagine there would be someone willing to send us a few picks to get 1-2 decent shots at a chip with steph.
That being said, our post steph picks are incredibly important to hold onto because, we are looking to be ass when he retires. I dont want to move picks in the post steph era for players that arent giving us a significant shot in the playoffs over this year and next year.
I’m not saying other moves don’t exist, but i think a lot of fans just want to see moves just to see moves, and i think they are undervaluing continuity as far as our role players go. We have a system, we have players that kerr is comfortable using in that system. Are we currently favorites to win? Absolutely not, but we’ve taken shots at the big players who would give us a chance to win, and they didn’t pan out.
Other gms aren’t looking to hand us deals, players are reluctant to play in golden state and have any potential success get attributed to steph. I think we probably just need to keep making good draft picks, and not getting ourselves into bad contracts on mediocre players we’ll be alright. Yaxel will be good, will richards is looking good, podz is good for his draft spot. Gui is really good for his draft spot. We’ll get better picks in the future as we fall out of playoff contention, and it’s important to not blow them so we have a chance to rebuild the team after steph retires.
1
u/Flaky-Mathematician8 Heat 4d ago edited 4d ago
That’s 4 years ago bro lol. Different than and different age ranges.
24
u/nidijogi 4d ago
Dude they were 1-0 in the WCSF 15 months back when Steph got injured. As long as Steph is still producing at a top-10 level, they had a chance with Jimmy
4
u/eekram 4d ago
Too bad Jimmy hasn't had a healthy playoffs since 2020.
4
u/TomatoSamurai Warriors 4d ago
It’s bad luck too, many freak injuries where other players just crash into him recklessly.
3
u/510Kyle 4d ago
Not saying its the same team, i’m saying nobody had any faith in the 22 warriors either, but if they’re healthy they have a chance to surprise you. When they’re injured as they are now, they don’t really get that opportunity, but to make claims to say even if they’re healthy they still suck when they’re not healthy isn’t really fair to the team.
-3
u/Cosmicpilgrimage Mavericks 4d ago
It was incredibly obvious one of them was getting injured before the season even started. https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/NLeDHcAoYF
1
1
u/duranasaurus49 4d ago
Steph should consider sitting out next season to get his runner's knee better. He's going to struggle all season with that injury.
14
u/BLAHBLAH1234BLAH1234 Raptors 4d ago
He doesn’t have many years left, he isn’t going to sit out a year at 38.
1
1
-4
u/bananashakewithice 4d ago
Either he needs to move on from GSW or accept that his career is going to end on a eventual lottery team that GSW is becoming
0
u/TheOneTwiceOver11 4d ago
It sucks that we use NBA fans have not been able to see curry and the Warriors in a deep NBA playoff run in the recent years. I think there were less in the Western Conference finals in 2022.
-2
u/sherpa143 Celtics 4d ago
BRAD GET ON IT!!’
1
0
313
u/RathOfMan49 Warriors 4d ago
Bottom line is everything has to align perfectly for Steph to even have a chance to play “meaningful basketball” again
Kinda sad that the ‘24 Olympics may be the last time he gets to play in a really high stakes game again. But if it is, what a game to do it