Winning games in April and May was once low-hanging fruit for the Golden State Warriors.
Today, uncertainty of epic proportions hangs over the franchise, from its head coach to the two best players.
It quickly went from what a time to be a Warriors fan to what a time not to be a Warriors fan, huh?
On Friday, Golden State’s season fizzled just as quickly as it suddenly bloomed 48 hours earlier. The team lost in Phoenix to the Suns in the second play-in game.
The result of the game sent the Suns to Oklahoma City and the Warriors to an offseason of questions.
Many are wondering if we have seen the last of the Steve Kerr-Steph Curry–Draymond Green trio.
Kerr’s future is largely unclear, Curry has a looming contract extension and Green has begun to address rumors of retirement.
What comes next for the Warriors? The answer to that question perhaps won’t be learned for another several weeks.
What about Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler?
Curry has completed his 17th NBA season. He’ll be 39 next season and has started to pick up a bit of an injury track record.
Butler will be 37 before next season. He’ll be coming off ACL surgery and has a decision to make on his future.
Now the question is how the Warriors will try to compete with these two as the backbone of the team … or if they even believe they can compete in the first place.
According to ESPN, the team intends to hold conversations with Curry about extending his contract and also aims to sort out Butler’s future.
Curry said after Friday’s elimination that he intends to play “multiple” more seasons and “for sure” would be interested in talking extension. Team sources indicated a plan to discuss an extension with Curry later in the summer,” ESPN wrote.
“Butler, meanwhile — who will be on the final season of an expiring $56.8 million deal — isn’t eligible for an extension until next February, which is around the time he could be returning from his ACL tear. There’s an expectation that he will focus on rehabbing, rediscovering his form and then sorting out his NBA future the following summer.”
Wise to Commit to Aging Stars With Creeping Injuries?
In Curry’s case, it is simply hard for most to picture him in another jersey. He has played his entire career in Golden State and seeing him part ways close to the very end would be a tough watch.
Curry is still one of the faces of the NBA and comfortably the best player on his team — but he needs help, an altered role that removes some of the weight off his shoulders.
He is elite at his best but pushing 40. Asking him to lift the load every night over an 82-game season is, as the kids like to say, straight up nasty work.
GettyGolden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr with Steph Curry.
Butler, meanwhile, is not the beloved Warrior luminary like Curry. He was acquired midseason a year ago and only played half of what was supposed to be his first full go with Golden State.
Even at his best, one could argue he wasn’t even as good as Curry is right now, which may raise some trepidation among Warriors fans when the topic of an extension is broached.
Golden State is an old team that cannot compete for a title as currently constructed. Sure, they may feel they still possess the identity of a contender when all their stars are healthy, but asking a 38-year-old Curry to lead the way while flanked by a bunch of 30-something-year-olds in a league chock full of young, spry athletes is — does it need to be said again? — nasty work.
The collective risk of injury is already high. Pushing this Warriors team through the gauntlet of an 82-game season and three Western Conference playoff series is perhaps going way past its limit.
But in the end, these decisions fall in the hands of Warriors management, which has plenty to evaluate this summer.
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