9 Steph Curry trades for Warriors to say goodbye to their legendary point guard
Trade No. 1: Charlotte Hornets
If Stephen Curry is going to leave the Golden State Warriors, it will almost certainly be to try and join a contending team and win another title. Landing with a perennial lottery team like the Charlotte Hornets doesn't seem like it would be in the cards. Charlotte is again going through a reset, drafting second and sixth overall in the last two drafts and hiring a new head coach, Charles Lee, just this year.
The one reason it could possibly happen is if Curry's reason for leaving was not merely to find a better situation, but to return home to North Carolina. He graduated from Charlotte Christian, became a national star at nearby Davidson College, and his father Dell is a broadcaster for the franchise after being one of the greatest players in franchise history. Sprinkle in that his brother Seth is also on the team right now and you get a phenomenal family reunion element.
If the Hornets were to go after Curry, they would need to be able to think they could put a winning team around him. That means holding onto LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, and likely some of their key veterans like Miles Bridges. Here is one potential trade offer from the Hornets:
Curry Salaun Hornets trade 2
If the Hornets keep both LaMelo and Bridges they will need to work hard to match Curry's salary in a deal, requiring the stacking of a number of mid-tier contracts. They also have to include Salaun, who went No. 6 in this past June's draft, alongside a bundle of draft picks.
Charlotte could start a group with Curry, Ball, Miller, Bridges and Mark Williams; that would be a high-impact offensive group, but perhaps not with the defense to be a true contender. Still, it's hard to argue that team would be much worse than the Warriors, not to mention playing in the softer East means it's more likely Curry would get to play in a number of playoff series over the next few years.
Who Says No? Stephen Curry may one day want to return home to Charlotte before the end of his career, but it seems impossible that he'd choose to punt on a chance at a title to do so now while he is still in his prime. Charlotte is also unlikely to mortgage the future to try and win now with an aging superstar; even though his name is Curry, they would almost certainly rather continue building their young core.
What about the Warriors? Salaun holds a lot of value at the No. 6 pick, but he was also a part of a weak draft. He's worth more than an average first-round pick, but there is no true blue-chip asset in this deal. Most likely, all three parties would turn this trade down.