Stephen Curry, a superstar guard for the Golden State Warriors, spoke about his future alongside Klay Thompson and Draymond Green after Tuesday’s 118-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings in the No. 9 vs. No. 10 Western Conference play-in game.
When asked about Thompson and Green by reporters, Curry responded, “I can never see myself not with those two guys”:
Although Curry and Green have multi-year contracts, Thompson will be eligible for free agency this summer and may play for a different team for the first time in his NBA career.Green joined the league as a second-round choice in 2012–13, and since then, he has been a colleague of Curry and Thompson.
The Warriors had an 11-season run from 2012–2023, during which they advanced to the playoffs nine times. They also went to the NBA Finals six times in eight years, from 2014 to 2022, winning four times. From 2014 to 2019, they went to the Finals five years in a row.
Since the Los Angeles Lakers three-peated in the late 90s and early 2000s, the Warriors have been the closest thing to a dynasty with Curry, Thompson, and Green as their lynchpins.
Just two years after their last title, Golden State was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs and failed to go past the play-in round this season with a 46–36 record.
The 2023–24 season saw varied levels of performance from Curry, Thompson, and Green, all of whom are 34 years old or older.
Curry, who was the main reason the Dubs had a shot in the playoffs, kept performing at an elite level even after turning 36 years old, averaging 26.4 points, 5.1 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.8 three-pointers made per game.
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With a worst-ever scoring average of 17.9 per game—his lowest since his second NBA season in 2012–2013—Thompson, 34, had one of his most terrible seasons.
In addition to making 3.5 three-pointers a game, he averaged 3.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Thompson had his third-worst field-goal percentage and second-worst three-point shooting percentage in his career.
The lack of certainty that there would be a settlement between Thompson and the Warriors during the season “rubbed Thompson the wrong way,” according to ESPN’s Kendra Andrews, who claims that Thompson would prefer to return to Golden State than sign elsewhere in free agency.
With further playing time, the Warriors have four young players with potential: Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, and Trayce Jackson-Davis.
Although the Warriors may suffer in the near term, allowing Thompson to walk would surely open more opportunities for those players.
Having veterans like Andrew Wiggins, Curry, and Green on the team would put the Warriors in a win-now mindset, so re-signing Thompson and hoping he gets back to his old self would be a smart choice.
The Warriors may decide to part ways with their Big Three this offseason as they navigate the fine line between attempting to contend while they still can and trying to build for the future.