The Warriors are operating as if Steph Curry isn't even thinking of retirement. It's hard to blame them.
This might be a surprise to some, but Steph Curry isn't going anywhere any time soon.
He's still gonna be drilling his trademark rainbow 3-pointers. He's still gonna run behind screens all over the floor, exhausting poor defenders who draw the short straw task of trying to follow him around. He's still gonna chew his mouthguard and flash that larger-than-life smile that makes him seem like a mischievous Looney Tunes character sometimes. Even at the age of 37, he's still gonna be worth way more than the price of admission to any bog-standard Golden State Warriors game.
Curry made his plans apparent earlier this summer.
The legend with 16 seasons and over 40,000 minutes played (playoffs included) under his belt isn't thinking of retiring right now. He's actually taking his career in two-year increments, with his current contract set to expire in 2027. Curry's possible NBA broadcasting future will have to wait.
The Warriors are operating accordingly.
Recent days have shed some light on the Warriors' plans to stay aggressive while they still have Curry.
For one, over the past year and a half, the Warriors have never cooled on the possibility of pairing Curry with LeBron James. Complicated salary cap and roster logistics aside, it says something that the Warriors keep exploring a path to acquiring a player who is, at worst, the second-greatest NBA player ever and who, like Curry, is still chugging along at an All-NBA caliber of play late into his career.
You don't pursue an older James for the fun of it. You keep checking in, no matter how fruitless it might be, because you think there will be plenty of time for Curry and him to make noise as title contenders.
The same sentiment can apply to the Warriors' apparent interest in Trey Murphy III. Per Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, Golden State has also checked in on the talented young forward from the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pelicans, of course, have understandably not yet really reciprocated any trade talks for one of their hopeful building blocks. Nonetheless, that the Warriors have even looked into the mere possibility of acquiring an ascending 25-year-old talent to play alongside Curry speaks volumes.
That's not the kind of ambitious deal a team explores if it expects to be without its all-time franchise superstar in the near future. Not in the least.
“Sources say that the Warriors have a strong affinity for [Trey] Murphy and have made outreach to New Orleans as recently as this summer,” Fischer said. "Yet sources say that the Pelicans, to be clear, have batted away calls for the 25-year-old, valuing him highly. The two-way forward will be playing on a contract in 2025-26 — at precisely $25 million — as desirable as his talent."
The Warriors are matching Curry's general good faith. As he continues to punch in and punch out without even teasing retirement, they're earnestly trying to surround him with the best possible team. They're not taking him or his commitment for granted. You know, by letting him gracefully coast in the twilight of his career in a spotlighted, high-profile irrelevance, but irrelevance nonetheless. He's too good for that. He's done too much for the Warriors over the years for them to simply waste his efforts before he, someday, walks away from basketball.
And who's to say exploring trade additions around Curry is only a goodwill process for an icon?
With the right complementary roster tinkering, there's no real reason to write off a Curry-led team as a championship contender. I personally don't believe in them on that level as currently constituted, but a lot can change in one fell swoop. Give Curry a legit roster, and anything can happen. The Warriors' 2022 title is proof of that concept as much.
In their efforts to maximize Curry's remaining years, the Warriors are telling us we don't have to worry about the electric sharpshooter hanging up his gym shoes any time soon. They're telling us we'll still be able to enjoy Curry indefinitely. We don't have to start reminiscing about the good old days, at least not right now.
This is all fantastic news.
I don't know about you, but I'm not quite ready for that cartoon smile to leave the court just yet.
Phee's glorious return
At the risk of stating the obvious, the Minnesota Lynx are a different team when they have their talisman, Napheesa Collier. Yes, the Lynx went 5-2 without the leading WNBA MVP candidate over the last three weeks. But that's only their depth shining through for a temporary period. For the league's top seed to win its fifth-ever title, it needs Collier firing on all cylinders. Just like with any other best player, Collier can't afford to miss a beat.
One would've forgiven Collier if she needed time to get back into the groove of things in her return against the Indiana Fever on Sunday night. But that's not how "Phee" rolls.
In her first game back, the All-Star forward dropped 32 points (on a hyper-efficient 11-of-16 shooting) while chipping in nine boards, two assists, and two steals. Phew. If you didn't know any better, you would've thought Collier was healthy this whole time.
Napheesa Collier came back with a vengeance (out for 7 games) in the @minnesotalynx's victory against the Fever, 97-84 ‼️
— WNBA (@WNBA) August 25, 2025
Her contributions helped the Lynx become the first team this season to reach 30 wins.
32 PTS | 9 REB | 2 STL#WelcometotheWpic.twitter.com/rAWaxkrqOt
The Lynx have lost seven games all season. If this elite version of Collier is already back, I'm not sure their total losses, playoffs included, reach double digits.
Shootaround
- To the surprise of no one, the Bucks have probably never had any Giannis Antetokounmpo trade talks
- Malik Beasley isn't out of the woods yet, but two title contenders have already checked in on him
- HoopsHype: The strongest lineups we've ever seen in NBA 2K
- Fans poured in tributes for Kobe Bryant on "Mamba Day" (August 24)
This was Layup Lines, For the Win's basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Steph Curry: Warriors' trade interests suggest legend not retiring any time soon
Category: Basketball
