Stephen Curry just put on one of the most incredible basketball performances of his life when he hit nine threes to help lead Team USA to a dramatic comeback win over Serbia in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games .
Considering his storied career, that’s quite an accomplishment.
But the writing has been on the wall, at least in pencil, when it comes to Curry’s chances of winning one final NBA championship.
Draymond Green is clearly at the tail end of his career. Andrew Wiggins appears to have been a one-year wonder. Klay Thompson left to join the Dallas Mavericks .
All this while the Western Conference gets younger and more stacked at the top with players like Anthony Edwards , Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Dončić .
The Warriors have had a few chances to acquire another superstar and embark on one last push for Curry’s fifth and likely final NBA championship, but they either couldn’t find a deal or weren’t willing to pull the trigger on one.
After the latest news out of Golden State, that writing on the wall can probably be sharpied over and highlighted.
Jonathan Kuminga Wants Max Extension From Warriors
Golden State’s unproven youth is about to get expensive
After Curry played in only five games, Wiggins played 12, Green played 43 and Thompson missed the entire season in 2019-20, the Warriors went 15-50 and had the rare combination of a championship-contending roster and a top pick in the draft.
They grabbed James Wiseman with the No. 2 selection.
After a mediocre 2020-21 season, Golden State had two more lottery picks, which it used on Jonathan Kuminga (No. 7) and Moses Moody (No. 14). The thinking was that the Warriors could straddle two timelines, riding the Curry-Green-Thompson-Wiggins quartet on a championship quest while developing three high-upside young players.
It appeared to work, as Golden State won the 2021-22 title after Jordan Poole’s unexpected star turn, Wiggins’ All-Star season, and Thompson, Curry and Green’s healthy playoff stretch.
Then, things fell off the rails, and it became clear that the championship was an anomaly, not the success of the two-timeline approach.
The Warriors won one playoff series in the ensuing two seasons. Thompson is gone, Curry and Green are older, Wiggins came back to Earth hard and Poole got a massive extension before playing his way to the NBA purgatory that is the Washington Wizards .
Wiseman is a bust who’s already played for two other teams and Moody can’t get consistent minutes. Kuminga finally broke out last season and averaged career highs across the board, but after one relatively productive year, is now asking Golden State for a max extension as he plays out the final year of his rookie deal, per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (h/t HoopsHype).
The idea of that potentially massive, long-term deal for Kuminga may have officially put a bow on the Warriors’ dynasty.
The Warriors May Be Out of Moves
Curry’s last shot at another star and title are likely gone
Golden State has been in the rumor mill this offseason. There seemed to be a chance the team would land Paul George at one point, which would certainly have given Curry’s Warriors a legitimate chance at another championship.
George signed with the Philadelphia 76ers .
Then, Golden State was rumored to hold heavy interest in Lauri Markkanen of the Utah Jazz . Utah was openly willing to listen to offers, but its asking price was high. If they traded their All-Star forward to the Warriors, the Jazz wanted guard Brandin Podziemski involved in the deal, and perhaps Kuminga as well.
Golden State has rebuffed all inquiries on Podziemski, as the franchise views him as a core piece moving forward. That leaves Kuminga as the team’s most attractive trade chip.
Or, perhaps, left him as its most attractive trade chip.
Teams around the league will be put off by the 21-year-old’s contract demands. Even if he explodes during the first few months of this season and the Warriors make him available at the trade deadline, he’s far less valuable now that word is out any acquiring team will have to shell out significant money to keep him.
If Kuminga were a budding star, things would be different. As it is, he’s a young, ascending player with loads of natural talent, but he’s far from a proven commodity.
Podziemski seems to be 100 percent off the table in any potential trade. That leaves Kuminga and his overpriced contract coming down the pike as the Warriors’ best chance at landing a season-altering superstar who would give Curry one last championship push, and that isn’t happening.
A gold medal with Team USA appears to be the first-ballot Hall of Famer’s final shot at basketball glory.