Steph Curry thinks the Warriors should be careful when considering trades for players that could improve their struggling team.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith strongly disagrees.
After the Warriors lost 104-101 to the Toronto Raptors on Monday at Scotiabank Arena, Curry spoke to reporters about his teammate Draymond Green’s comments on the team possibly sacrificing its future to make moves for winning now. Curry agreed with Green, saying the front office should be cautious when making trades before the NBA’s February 6 trade deadline.
“Desperate trades or desperate moves that deplete the future, there is a responsibility on allowing or keeping the franchise in a good space and good spot when it comes to where we leave this thing when we’re done,” Curry said.
“Doesn’t mean that you’re not trying to get better. It doesn’t mean that you’re not active in any type of search to, if you have an opportunity where a trade makes sense or even in the summer free agency [move] makes sense. You want to continue to get better.
“Nobody wants to be stale or be in a situation where you’re passing up opportunities. But it doesn’t mean that you’re desperate, just flinging assets all around the place just because you want to do something.”
Smith talked about Curry’s comments on Tuesday’s episode of “First Take,” where he disagreed with Curry’s view that the team doesn’t need to make desperate moves and possibly sacrifice its future to win now.
“I was surprised at what Steph Curry said, and I got to admit to you, I don’t know how to feel about it,” Smith said. “Because on one hand, I really really appreciate the selflessness on Steph Curry’s part. But in the same breath, I’m saying he is still great. He is still the greatest shooter god ever created. He is still made of that championship armor.
“… You can’t stop where you are at this pace when you’ve got a guy like Steph Curry. You’re wasting away. So even though I appreciate what he said, it’s hard to believe that he believes that. And if he does believe that, god bless him, but I don’t give a damn.
If I’m Joe Lacob, I’m like, ‘what’s the chances of at any time in the remainder of my lifetime as owner of the Golden State Warriors that I’m going to find me another Steph Curry?’ What’s the chances of me pulling that off? I’ve got to capitalize and max this out.”
While Smith makes a valid point about maximizing Curry’s remaining time in his NBA career, that’s not what Curry is saying.
Curry absolutely wants the team to work toward winning another championship, but he doesn’t want that to come at the cost of trading away all of the team’s young talent and leaving the Warriors in a worse situation than when he joined in 2009.
