Instead of heading north to the Bay Area to join forces with his fellow surefire Hall-of-Famer, James opted to pack his things and head east to spend, presumably, the final years of his career with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Speaking to Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic, Curry put on a stoic face in light of James’ decision.
“That’s why you don’t envision anything until it happens,” the NBA’s all-time three-point leader told Thompson of not getting a chance to play with the league’s all-time scorer. “There’s a lot of moving parts.”
Instead of entering his 18th season with his 2024 Team USA teammate, Curry and his Golden State Warriors will likely be fighting for a spot in the play-in tournament for a fourth straight season, a projection complicated by the long-term recoveries for injuries to Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody.
This is a reality that Curry acknowledged.
“The through line, which is hard on anybody in this situation, especially with us keeping this thing together, is knowing that when Jimmy got hurt and Moses got hurt, the whole calculus of everything changes,” Curry said. “How do you get through their absence and still stay at a certain level? And then how that goes into this year. It’s the same deal. So, I’m a realist on that.”
Even if the Warriors reach the play-in again, it might be a case that the burden placed on Curry’s shoulders to make it that far would turn an honest championship run nigh impossible.
Ultimately, as Curry himself has appeared to come to grips with, banking on such a miracle just isn’t feasible.
“I’m hopeful for all the creative ideas of getting the best team possible,” Curry said. “We had those conversations. But when you have injuries at the top like that, it’s always gonna change.”
Last season, Curry averaged 26.6 points per game on shooting splits of 46.8/39.3/92.3 across 43 games played.
He’s entering the final season of what was a four-year, $215.3-million contract and will make a little over $62.5 million this season, making him a difficult player to trade if that is something he decides he wants to happen at some point next season.
