Dunleavy not worried about Curry extension talks even after Warriors' quiet offseason
Published in Basketball
Although they are no longer surefire contenders and their superstar is saddled with an injury-prone roster, the Golden State Warriors still expect Steph Curry to sign a lucrative extension with the only organization he has ever played for.
Coming off a season in which his team went 37-45 and missed the playoffs, general manager Mike Dunleavy told reporters on Tuesday afternoon that he has received no indication that Curry is looking to change teams, even as Golden State has yet to make a new addition this summer outside of the draft.
“I’m pretty confident that Steph will finish his career here, but you know, it’s ultimately his call, his decision,” Dunleavy said. “Whether that’s to allow his contract to run out and move on, or if he comes to me and wants to be moved, Joe ( Lacob ) and I will talk through it. 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.”
Ten years after signing Kevin Durant in the summer of 2016, the Warriors were one of a handful of teams considered to be in the mix during the LeBron James sweepstakes. But this time, they could not close out a second titanic signing.
James opted to join the Philadelphia 76ers on a two-year, $8 million deal, turning down a chance to finish his Hall of Fame career playing with his former Finals rivals and good friends Curry and Draymond Green in the Bay Area.
Now, more than a month after the start of free agency, the Warriors have only signed players from last year’s roster. Green, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis and De’Anthony Melton have all returned on two-year deals, while Gary Payton II and Charles Bassey are back on a veteran minimum contract. No. 11 overall pick and summer league MVP Yaxel Lendeborg also joined the team.
With the quiet offseason looming over the team, Dunleavy emphasized he and the team had been plenty active pursuing players outside of James.
“If people knew the cold calls I made offering a lot of stuff for players, they would realize how hard we’re trying, and it’s not as much the guys that end up getting moved,” Dunleavy said. “There’s a lot of guys we really, really value and don’t get moved.”
The Warriors were unable to close on those unnamed players, and instead are now relying on an aging and ailing core.
Curry (38) missed 39 games, Jimmy Butler (37) was absent for 44 and will miss much of this season after tearing his ACL in January. Horford (40) sat out 37 games while dealing with a litany of injuries and Porzingis played in only 15 games after the Warriors acquired him midseason.
Moses Moody is also expected to miss a chunk of the upcoming season after tearing his patellar tendon in March.
Dunleavy gave the rationale behind the decision to bring back almost every major contributor from last year’s team.
“We had to make a decision between talent and availability, and there was no perfect solution in terms of a combination of the two,” Dunleavy said. “I think we leaned a little bit more towards talent, knowing the team that we have and what we need, and hope that we can get some good (injury) luck.”
He emphasized that while the team is attempting to strike a balance between being competitive and not hastily jettisoning future draft picks and cap space, the Warriors are willing to make a midseason trade.
Golden State traded for Butler at the 2025 deadline, and flipped Jonathan Kuminga for Porzingis this past February.
“I’d say we’re pretty good about improving our team in the middle of the year,” Dunleavy said.
The run-it-back plan isn’t surprising considering Dunleavy said in May that the Warriors “don’t think we came up short because (of) the talent on the roster. It was injuries and things we could control.”
Dunleavy’s belief in the roster will be put to the test, as he’ll only be able to fill the Warriors’ last two roster spots with veteran minimum contracts.
Other Western Conference contenders did not hesitate to upgrade their personnel.
The Minnesota Timberwolves traded for LaMelo Ball, the Los Angeles Lakers inked center Walker Kessler to a massive deal. The San Antonio Spurs bolstered their wing depth by bringing in veteran forward Tobias Harris.
A lack of cap space this season will have no bearing on a pair of extensions Dunleavy expects to work out before the end of the offseason.
Curry can sign a two-year, $136.7 million extension on Aug. 29, which would presumably allow him to finish out a 20-year career as a lifetime Warrior.
Meanwhile, 23-year-old guard Brandin Podziemski is eligible to sign a contract extension. Dunleavy’s initial first-round pick back in 2019, the 6-foot-4 guard was the only Warrior to play in all 82 games last season, showing growth as a scorer and all-around player after a slow start to the season.
“Anytime you’ ve got a guy like that, you want to be able to keep him around,” Dunleavy said. “Obviously, we have multiple ways to do it through an extension and restricted free agency, but we prefer to get it done sooner rather than later.”
Long removed from being the league’s top team, Dunleavy set expectations for the current squad just above last season’s result, a play-in tournament exit.
“I think if you go down and ask every coach and player on the team, we fully expect to be in the playoffs,” Dunleavy said. “That would be an expectation and a goal, and It think we feel like if we get in the playoffs, we would be a tough out.”
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