As
Curry told NBA.com in August when asked what he would do as general manager: “I don’t know. You’re playing chess with it. If they were to take that approach to wait and I’ve had a great season, hopefully it would spark some interest across the league for the future and the price would drive up. If I were the Warriors, I’d offer a reasonable amount and sign me up now.”
An average of $11 million a year is definitely reasonable for Curry. This was no low ball. This was the Warriors taking on financial risk with a player who is clearly talented, but who has also been knocked from the lineup five times the last two regular seasons, not counting similar problems in past exhibition play. He would get hurt running downcourt without being touched. He had surgery on the right ankle in April. He hurt it again this preseason, though in a collision, and was held out of games.
The Warriors being proactive is nothing new. This is a new level of proactive, though, dependant on much more than gut feelings about hiring an untested coach and general manager or basketball evaluations on roster moves. They’re playing chess with it.