First off, let’s get one thing clear: The Warriors are not bona fide contenders for the National Basketball Association championship, and not just because they’re plying their trade in the highly competitive Western Conference. For the first time since their dynastic run in the previous decade, they’re entering a season with myriad questions borne of an unplanned roster upheaval. Which, in many ways, seems ironic given their humongous payroll and immediate past play-in performance. With unprecedented cost comes heightened — even unrealistic — expectations, and the onus is on the front office to make sense of the spending.
That said, the Warriors were absolutely right to have inked foundational piece Stephen Curry to a whopping $62.6 million contract extension that guarantees his stay through the 2026-27 season. It doesn’t matter that he will be pushing 40 by the time the additional money — which makes him the biggest earner in the 2020s by far — kicks in. He’s still the engine that runs the offense for the blue and yellow, and considering how he saved Team USA’s reputation in the Paris Games with a showing for the ages, he most definitely deserves to do so until he exits stage left.
To be sure, the Warriors have no choice but to ride shotgun until Curry’s wheels fall off. Their transition plan fell through when Draymond Green sucker-punched Jordan Poole prior to the start of the 2022-23 season. And forced to choose as a consequence, they went for retaining the core that gave them four titles in the last nine years. To argue that the results since then have been mixed would be to understate the obvious. If nothing else, their absence in the 2023-24 playoffs is indicative of their standing — or lack thereof — moving forward.
It bears noting that the Warriors, under general manager Mike Dunleavy, Jr., continue to look for ways to tweak the lineup. And they’re not afraid to keep going all in despite their repeated tax obligations; at the trade deadline last February, for instance, they actually asked the Lakers if all-time-great LeBron James was available. Their motivation, of course, is to take full advantage of Curry while he’s still plying the trade, and, more importantly, while he’s still transcendent. The window is very, very small, and they’re smartly trying to make the most of it. Unfortunately, their salary cap situation severely limits their options.
If preseason prognoses are to be believed, the Warriors are middling at best. Nonetheless, Curry’s gravitational pull makes them dangerous. Armed with resolve and no small measure of good fortune, they may yet make a run for the ages. And should they get to catch lightning in a bottle, their campaign looks to trump any before it. Meanwhile, they continue to scour for means to get luck to tilt in their favor.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.