OAKLAND–Stephen Curry isn’t ready, willing or even curious about bolting from the Warriors in free agency this summer, which is no great surprise, but you still have to ask, right?
So I asked him during our podcast conversation after practice on Saturday: Steph, given the huge new dollar-advantage presented to the Warriors in the new collective bargaining agreement and the atmosphere here, can you even fathom leaving this team this summer?
“I can’t,” Curry said. “Like I’ve said from Day 1 when I was first asked about free agency, this is a perfect place to play. Bay Area fans are amazing, our organization’s amazing, we’ve put together an amazing team that’s competing for championships every year.
“There’s really no reason that I can see right now that would draw me elsewhere.
“And we’ll see what happens. But that’s kind of a great position to be in and one that allows me to just focus on just playing good basketball this year and winning a championship and letting the rest of that handle itself.”
The new CBA, signed last month, allows a “designated veteran player” who meets certain requirements (Curry’s MVP last season is among several ways he qualifies) to receive a five-year extension worth about $209 million from his current team.
But all other bidding teams could only offer Curry at max a four-year deal worth about $133 million–a monster difference of $76 million in the overall value.
I asked Curry if he has let himself contemplate a new deal worth more than $40 million a year.
“I know it’s on the horizon,” Curry said. “It’s something that I hope to get done this summer.
“It sounds crazy, but I haven’t really thought about what that means yet, just because it’s so much time between now and then. so much to accomplish.
“I know just playing basketball for a living, being able to provide for your family, doing what we do, that’s been an amazing kind of opportunity in itself. The game as been really good to me throughout my career. And I hope that continues.. I just try to keep the right perspective, that all that will come when it’s supposed to come.”
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Kevin Durant, who signed a two-year max deal with the Warriors last summer, almost certainly will opt-out to become a free agent also this summer.
I asked Curry: When you were talking with him as he was making his decision this summer, did Durant ask you if you’re committed long-term to the Warriors?
“I’m assuming me being at that meeting he knew that that was the case,” Curry said. “We didn’t talk about it much but yeah, that’s basically it.”
But Curry said he thinks everything points to Durant also wanting to re-sign for the long-term with the Warriors.
“I don’t see why not,” Curry said. “I think he really enjoys playing with us as a team. He enjoys living in the Bay Area, the opportunities that are out here.
“I think he just genuinely enjoys coming to work every day. That’s a good recipe for hopefully a long-term presence in the Bay.”
I also asked Curry how he dealt with watching teammates and many, many lesser players sign much larger deals almost instantly after he signed his four-year, $44 million rookie extension last October 2012 (which didn’t kick in until until 2013).
By the way, Curry has never been the Warriors’ highest-paid player and is currently their fourth-highest paid.
“I remember sitting in a hotel, at the Ritz-Carlton in Phoenix, right before our opening night game against the Suns and sitting with Bob Myers and coach (Mark) Jackson and signing that contract,” Curry said of the 2012 extension on the eve of the season.
“My perspective was, ‘Man, I’ll be able to take care of my family with this. Blessed to be able to know I’ll be playing at least in the NBA for four years and see where it goes from there.’
“But I literally told myself in that hotel room that day, knowing what the max was I think at the time was probably, 56 or 58, somewhere in there, I think Eric Gordon and guys like that were getting that money, I was, ‘You can’t think 20-20 hindsight, go back and worry about other guys are making.’
“One thing my pops always told me is you never count another man’s money. It’s what you’ve got and how you take care of it. And if I’m complaining about $44 million over four years, then I’ve got other issues in my life.”
