Stephen Curry’s new extension is built around more than a number. The Warriors’ longtime centerpiece accepted a two-year, $116 million deal that comes in $20 million below his maximum, giving Golden State a little more room to chase another run before Curry’s career closes where it started.
Key takeaways
- Curry, 38, signed for two additional years and chose not to take the full maximum salary.
- The agreement is designed to keep Curry in Golden State while preserving roster-building flexibility.
- Golden State opens camp in Hawaii, with its first preseason game Sunday against the Clippers in Honolulu.
- Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody are progressing from injuries and will make the Hawaii trip, though neither is fully back.
- Curry played only 43 games last season after missing 27 straight with a lingering right knee issue.
Curry’s contract choice keeps the window open
Curry said he had the maximum contract available, but the discussions went beyond simply taking the biggest offer. He described the process as a careful effort to weigh his place with the franchise, the club’s immediate chances and the flexibility needed through the final phase of his playing career.
For Curry, the priority remains clear: compete now and give himself another shot at a championship. He enters his 18th NBA season after the Warriors again fell short of becoming a serious factor in the Western Conference playoff picture.
General manager Mike Dunleavy said Curry’s willingness to accept less money gives the front office more options. Dunleavy framed the deal as a balance between keeping the franchise’s defining player in place for the rest of his career and maintaining room to improve the roster around him.
“Steph is as competitive as anyone,” Dunleavy said, noting that Curry’s concession was made with winning in mind. “He wants to win.”
Coach Steve Kerr, who agreed in May to remain with Golden State on a two-year contract of his own, said there was never much doubt Curry would be back.
Curry’s goal is to join the short list of NBA players who spent an entire career with one organization. He arrived in the Bay Area in 2009 as an undersized, heavily questioned guard and has since become a two-time MVP, the league’s all-time 3-point leader and the face of four championship teams.
He said there is pride in representing the Bay and in what the group has built together. Staying put, in his view, is about the franchise and its community as much as it is about an individual legacy.
Camp opens with Curry’s health and the rotation in focus
Golden State was scheduled to fly to Hawaii on Monday, then hold its first training-camp practice Tuesday. The preseason begins Sunday against the Clippers at the University of Hawaii campus in Honolulu.
The club will open camp without a clean bill of health. Veteran center Kristaps Porzingis is sidelined indefinitely by a health concern. Butler and Moody, meanwhile, are expected to return at some point after each dealt with major setbacks last season. Both have advanced to light individual on-court work and will travel with the team.
Butler’s season ended Jan. 19 when he suffered a right knee injury against his former team, the Miami Heat. Surgery followed, and Golden State’s push was badly compromised without him. Moody also went down, thinning the perimeter rotation at a time when the Warriors needed bodies around Curry.
Butler said Curry finishing as a one-team player would reflect not only his basketball accomplishments but also his standing within the organization and the wider community. Having joined him as a teammate, Butler said he has seen Curry’s impact up close.
Curry himself has work to do after his own difficult 2025-26 season. A right knee problem kept him out for more than two months and 27 consecutive games. He still produced 26.6 points, 4.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 30.9 minutes per night, but appeared in just 43 games.
The Warriors also came up empty in their pursuit of LeBron James during free agency, placing more importance on continuity around Curry, Butler, Draymond Green and the returning pieces. Curry has spent much of his career sharing responsibility with stars, from Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson to Green and Butler, and his latest deal is another signal that he wants the roster around him to have a chance to stay strong.
Dunleavy said Curry’s extension lengthens both the player’s own window and Golden State’s ability to keep building. The next step begins in Honolulu, where the Warriors will start sorting out minutes, health and the lineup combinations that must carry them back into the West’s top tier.
