Warriors All-NBA point guard Stephen Curry is eligible for a one-season, $62.6MM contract extension prior to October 21, or else could wait till the 2025 offseason to ink a two-year worth a projected $130MM, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack story.
Stein notes that, having missed out on Jazz All-Star Lauri Markkanen and Sixers All-Star Paul George, Golden State is looking to upgrade their personnel via trade. The team has the current and future assets necessary to do just that.
Last year’s Warriors went 46-36, finishing with just the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference. Golden State failed to make the playoffs after falling to the Kings during their lone play-in tournament game.
Curry, 36, had yet another excellent individual year. The 10-time All-Star averaged 26.4 points on .450/.408/.923 shooting splits, 5.1 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 0.7 steals in 74 games.
Here are some other key notes from Stein’s latest:
- The Lakers were open to a potential trade to send All-NBA combo forward LeBron James to the Warriors, so he could join then-future Team USA colleague Curry and friend Draymond Green. Stein’s sources inform him that Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, James’ longtime agent, urged both L.A. and Golden State to disregard the deal — in large part because Paul did not want James to be faced with criticism for jumping teams a fourth time.
- Sixers All-Star center Joel Embiid, fresh off winning his first Olympic gold medal for Team USA this summer, hinted that he might be interested in playing for his native Cameroon during the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Stein reveals that players over the age of 17 can only change country affiliations with express consent of USA Basketball and FIBA. Stein is skeptical that Embiid will be permitted to do so.
- Free agent center Omer Yurtseven recently worked out for the Knicks, along with a few other players. New York has opted not to add Yurtseven to its roster this fall, but Greek club Panathinaikos is intrigued by the 7-footer. New York lost its 2023/24 starting center, Isaiah Hartenstein, to the Thunder in free agency, and no doubt needs to get creative filling out its frontcourt depth, so Yurtseven would have made sense as a fringe rotation option. Across three NBA seasons with the Heat and Jazz, Yurtseven has appeared in 113 contests (24 starts), averaging 5.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.7 steals a night.
- The Nuggets consider Hornets point guard Vasilije Micic to be an eventual trade target, although at present acquiring him could put Denver over the NBA’s punitive second luxury tax apron. Acquired midway through his 2023/24 rookie season, the 6’5″ guard averaged 10.8 points and 6.2 assists across 30 games for Charlotte.