After a disastrous offseason thus far, the Golden State Warriors have done little to build around star Steph Curry. That puts both the team and the player in a bind. The Warriors clearly aren't good enough to contend next season, let alone make the playoffs in the Western Conference.
Meanwhile, Curry, who is 38 years old, is on the last legs of his Hall of Fame career. He may only have two or three seasons left, and it appears that Golden State is going to squander those remaining years. That leaves him with two potential options.
The first being that he could ride out his contract with the Warriors, playing out the rest of his career with Golden State before retiring. Or, he could either demand a trade or not sign an extension and become a free agent after next season.
Warriors' Steph Curry might be the NBA's next ticking time bomb
At this point, no one would blame him for leaving Golden State after they have failed to build a contender around him in the later years of his career. Ironically, they have been negatively compared to the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks.
Both franchises wasted the latter part of Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant's and Dirk Nowitzki's careers. Now, it seems that Golden State is destined to do the same with Curry.
They tried and failed to land a young co-star, striking out on Giannis Antetokounmpo and failing to trade for Jaylen Brown. They even struck out on LeBron James despite him having close ties to Curry.
Will Steph Curry demand a trade?
It's hard to imagine Curry demanding a trade, but it doesn't mean that he is a lock to retire as a member of the Warriors. Curry is extension-eligible next month and could become a free agent if he doesn't sign a new contract.
In that case, he could simply leave in free agency, though he'd be turning down a boatload of money to do so. Of course, he'll have to weigh whether he wants to stick it out with Golden State and hope that they turn things around dramatically. Or, if he wants to test free agency and see if the grass is greener on another team.
I still think that he will end his career with the Warriors. Nevertheless, their inability to build around him during the later stages of his career certainly makes that far from a guarantee.
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