Stephen Curry is excited about the prospect of running it back with Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green next season after that tandem played playoff-level basketball over the final portion of the season, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk writes.
The Warriors took Game 1 of the second round of the playoffs against the Timberwolves, but Curry was injured in that game and did not return for the rest of the series.
“Our contracts — me, Draymond, Steve, Jimmy — are all two years [more],” Curry said. “And we want this ride to last as long as possible. But it’s just about what does this team need for next year, answering those questions over the summer, everybody preparing themselves individually to get through another 82-game season hopefully with a little bit more of a comfort room down the stretch where we don’t have to have a two-month gauntlet just to make the playoffs.”
Regardless of what direction the team takes this offseason, Draymond Green believes Golden State got the hardest part of the team-building process over by acquiring Butler
“It’s harder to get guys like that through trades, through free agency,” Green said. “It just doesn’t come up often. That part is done. It puts us in a much better situation going into this offseason than last year where we were kind of looking for that.”
We have more from the Pacific Division:
- This offseason is a pivotal one for the Suns. After they hire their next head coach, it seems likely they’ll explore the trade market for Kevin Durant, Keith Smith of Spotrac writes in his offseason preview. Smith opines that the team should at least look into fully resetting, but that the team is more likely to try to retool around Devin Booker. Any Durant trade should return multiple rotation players on smaller salaries, as well as assets to replenish their asset cabinet. A smaller decision worth monitoring is what the team does with Vasilije Micic‘s $8.1MM team option. Exercising that would give the team another decent salary to include in trades.
- Durant won the Professional Basketball Writers Association’s Magic Johnson Award for 2024/25, per release. The award honors a player who best combines on-court skill with grace in dealing with media and fans. Durant also won the award in 2010/11. “We’re really pleased to honor KD again,” said PBWA president Howard Beck. “Kevin has long been one of the NBA’s most thoughtful and accessible stars. He always makes time for reporters, whether for on-the-record interviews or just informal chit-chat, and he never shies away from any topic.“
- The Lakers‘ priority this offseason — outside of keeping LeBron James and extending Luka Doncic — will be to add size and athleticism around their two superstars. Jovan Buha of The Athletic explores how Los Angeles could improve its roster. If Dorian Finney-Smith opts into his $15.4MM player option, the Lakers would have four sizable expiring deals that they could potentially use in trades in Finney-Smith’s, Rui Hachimura‘s ($18.3MM), Maxi Kleber ($11.0MM) and Gabe Vincent ($11.5MM).