An underwhelming summer of inactivity presents a number of issues for the Golden State Warriors, not least of which surrounds Stephen Curry who continues to manage the ‘runner’s knee’ injury that caused him to miss 27-straight games toward the end of last season.
With six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler remaining sidelined due to his torn ACL, the Warriors are taking a major risk with Curry and his body that they simply can’t afford if they have any hope of elevating back into championship contention at some point over the remainder of his career.
Warriors are taking Stephen Curry risk they can’t afford
Speaking on the latest episode of the Dubs Talk podcast, Warriors insider Monte Poole outlined a slightly worrying update on Curry and the frustrating knee injury that helped send the franchise into free-fall following the All-Star break.
"There's at least some lingering concern about the knee. From what I've been told, it can be managed, but it has to be managed and that's a new thing for Steph because people always say he is the most conditioned guy in the League and now he has to manage a knee," Poole said.
Golden State need to be incredibly cautious with Curry’s body to preserve his longevity as he hopes to play into his forties. The issue with that is that due to Butler’s injury, and after missing on LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo and other stars this offseason, the Warriors really have no margin for error.
As we saw toward the end of last season, any Curry injury and/or time off will almost assuredly lead to disastrous results from a win-loss standpoint, and could crush Golden State’s hopes of a return to the playoffs. Even when he’s on the floor, there’s likely to be an unhealthy reliance on Curry to carry an offense that ranked 19th last season, at least until Butler returns and gets back up to speed.
Warriors have to take bigger picture outlook with Stephen Curry
The Warriors’ offseason moves (or lack thereof) suggest they’re taking a gap year, with much of the focus now turning to the mid-season trade deadline where they’ll be armed with expiring contracts and draft capital, or free agency next year where they’ll project to have significant cap space if they don’t make big moves in February.
This ‘gap year’ would suggest Golden State need to take a longer term outlook with Curry. Why take too much risk with your franchise player if you’re only going to be a Play-In Tournament team at best anyway?
The problem with that is it runs completely counter-intuitive to the fact Curry is 38-years-old, leaving even greater intrigue on how the Warriors approach this season and how they look to manage the 12x All-Star as it progresses.
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