It’s easy to say now after they did next to nothing in the offseason, but according to Warriors Insider Monte Poole, the team is lining up for 2026-27 to be a gap year, focused on internal development. And that’s what they have to say, considering they made no trades and added no free agents to a team that just finished 37-45.
But is that really a feasible plan with a healthy, still excellent, 38-year-old Stephen Curry on the team? Steph may not be an MVP candidate anymore, but he hasn’t dropped off much. Unfortunately for him, the roster around him certainly has. Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody are still recovering from injuries, Draymond Green, Al Horford, and Kristaps Porzingis have been showing their ages recently, and they have no promising young players to elevate the rest of the roster.
It would be fine to take a gap year and focus on internal development with a young core on the way, but Golden State’s young players include 23-year-old rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, Brandin Podziemski, the injured Moody, and that’s about it. Reinforcements are not on the way, and with Butler’s contract expiring, the team doesn’t even have any clear trade chips going forward unless they want to completely mortgage the future by trading away all their picks - which they’ve been very hesitant to do.
Taking a 'gap year' with 38-year-old Curry is nuts
So they can call it a ‘gap year’ all they want, but they have no way to bridge the gap and get to the other side where Curry is competing for a title again in Golden State before retiring. So, at this point, it just comes down to Steph’s happiness and priorities. Maybe he’s content spending his whole career as a Warrior, and retiring with four championships as the greatest player in franchise history and one of the all-time legends of the NBA.
But maybe he’s not. There’s at least a chance that Steph is growing frustrated with the organization and their inability or lack of desire to put a contending roster around him. It’s at least conceivable that he’s ready to move on and spend his final years playing meaningful basketball instead of wasting away on a lottery team in the Bay.
Celtics ready to pounce if Curry wants out of Golden State
And if that’s the case, that’s where the Celtics need to be closely monitoring the situation. We’ve seen plenty of news and rumors connecting Curry to Jayson Tatum and Boston this offseason, and if it ever got to the point where he’d leave, either by trade or as a free agent next summer, the Celtics should position themselves to be atop his list.
They’ve got the trade assets to make it happen now, with Paul George’s salary, plus young players and picks, and if it happens a year from now, they can figure out a sign-and-trade, or possibly even lure him on a cheap free agency deal if he wants to go the LeBron James route.
Either way, the Celtics have options, and they can offer Steph a soft landing spot and a great chance to win another title with an iconic franchise. Maybe it never reaches that point, but the Warriors certainly seem like they’re testing his patience and loyalty in a way that could easily and massively backfire.
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