NBA Rumors: Warriors Might Have To Gauge Stephen Curry’s Trade Value Ahead Of 2021 Deadline
Given how it now appears doubtful that the Golden State Warriors could return to championship contention in the aftermath of Klay Thompson’s season-ending injury, a recent report suggested that the team might want to consider the possibility of trading former two-time MVP Stephen Curry before the 2021 deadline, remote as it may seem at the moment.
On Wednesday morning, Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley published a list of predictions for what might happen in the lead-up to next year’s trade deadline, noting that the Warriors should be taking stock of what they might need to do to remain competitive in the coming seasons.
“Barring miracle seasons from several players—Andrew Wiggins and James Wiseman chief among them—the Warriors aren’t competing for the crown this season,” he wrote. “Not with Klay Thompson shelved for a second straight season, this time due to a torn Achilles. While they can try to hold down the fort without him, their future (and his) are blurry at best.”
With all that in mind, Buckley suggested that Golden State might have to do what was once thought to be unimaginable — see how much value Curry has on the trade market. While he stressed that this won’t necessarily result in a pre-deadline deal taking place, he explained that the organization should at least try to get an idea of the 32-year-old’s “price point” if worse comes to worst and the Warriors decide to “wave the white flag.”
As Curry will be turning 33 in March and entering free agency in the summer of 2022, the Bleacher Report writer added that this might be the best time for the Warriors to make inquiries about whether rival teams would be interested in their franchise point guard.
According to his Basketball-Reference player page, Curry averaged 20.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 6.6 assists and shot just 40.2 percent from the field and 24.5 percent from beyond the arc in 2019-20 — a season in which he played in just five games due to a hand injury.
Although Buckley again emphasized that the idea of trading Curry might be “blasphemy” for Warriors fans, he noted that the team has other things to consider, including the fact that its top three players are all in their early 30s and that the third member of this group, Draymond Green, experienced a notable statistical decline in 2019-20. He added that it’s far from sure whether Golden State’s supporting players could improve the club’s odds of returning to championship glory, and that it might be hard to upgrade the roster even further due to their lack of salary-cap space.
