Thanks in part to Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry stands to make a boatload of money if he decides to re-sign with the Golden State Warriors this offseason.
A new provision in the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement has made it possible for Curry to earn an NBA record $207 million over the next five years. More importantly for Warriors fans, that is $80 million more than Curry could earn if he elected to hit free agency and sign elsewhere. Ironically, the new provision was implemented as a response to Durant joining the Warriors this offseason, to incentivize superstar players to re-sign with their current teams.
All this means is that Curry, who was already likely to stay in Golden State, is almost certain to re-sign with the Warriors this offseason. It’s hard to argue that Curry doesn’t deserve the massive payday, considering he’s been on the most reasonable contract in basketball since signing a 4-year, $44 million contract in 2014. To give you some perspective, the two-time MVP is the fourth-highest paid player on the Warriors this season.
Even before the new CBA, Curry made it clear that he plans to stay in the Bay Area.
“It’s hard to see myself anywhere else,” he told the Washington Post in November. “I want to be back here. I like playing here, and that’s it.”
The other good news is under the new CBA, it still remains possible for Golden State to keep their superstar core together, though it could prove to be tricky. According to the Washington Post, players can qualify for the new megastar provision if they were on an All-NBA team the previous season or won an MVP in the previous three. Those qualifying who stay with their current team can earn up to 35 percent of the team’s salary cap, assuming they are re-signing with the team that drafted them.
Durant doesn’t qualify for that provision, but he could still also earn 35 percent of the Warriors’ cap space, due to the fact that he’s a 10-year-veteran. Durant could choose to sign for slightly less, if he agreed to a non-Bird rights deal that would pay a 120 percent raise on his current contract paying him around $31 million next season. This four million dollars could prove to be crucial as it would give them extra flexibility to sign the likes of Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston.
Regardless, with Klay Thompson and Draymond Green locked up through 2019 and 2020 respectively, and with the amount of money Curry and Durant stand to make under the new CBA, the Warriors should be confident that their core will be together for the foreseeable future.
