Sunday, November 24, 2024

Stephen Curry contract extension: Warriors star set to be first NBA player to hit $60M mark in single season

Stephen Curry contract extension: Warriors star set to be first NBA player to hit M mark in single season

Stephen Curry will sign a one-year, $62.6 million contract extension with the Golden State Warriors on Thursday, his agent, Jeff Austin, told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The deal will keep him under contract through the 2026-27 season, during which Curry will turn 39 years old.

Curry, 36, signed a four-year, $215 million contract with the Warriors in 2022. He is now set to earn $178 million guaranteed over the next three seasons. He is projected to be the first player to earn more than $60 million in a single season in 2026-27.

After being underpaid for the first few seasons of Golden State’s dynastic run, Curry has been the NBA’s highest-paid player since the 2017-18 season. The four-time NBA champion now projects to hold that title for 10 consecutive seasons.

The extension will increase Curry’s career earnings to $532.7 million in 2026-27, which will put him in an extremely exclusive club, per Spotrac. LeBron James will be the first player to pass the $500 million mark this coming season, and Kevin Durant will be less than $200,000 short in 2025-26, so if he plays another season, he will join the club when Curry does. Paul George’s current deal will get him there in 2027-28.

Curry’s contract will now expire at the same time as Draymond Green’s, assuming Green picks up his $27.7 million player option for the 2026-27 season. The Warriors currently have no contracts on their books beyond that year, save for Buddy Hield’s $10.1 million 2027-28 player option, of which only $3.1 million is guaranteed. Golden State coach Steve Kerr, however, is only under contract through the 2025-26 season.

This news follows Curry’s spectacular performance in Team USA’s two final games of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Alongside James and Durant, Curry scored a total of 60 points and shot 17 for 26 from 3-point range in wins over Serbia and France, leading the United States to a gold medal in his first Olympic appearance.

Last season with the Warriors, Curry averaged 26.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.1 assists in 74 games and made his 10th All-NBA team. Curry, who has spent his entire 15-year career with the team that drafted him No. 7 overall in 2009, is clearly still a top-tier player, but it remains to be seen whether or not Golden State can put him in a position to compete for a fifth title. This offseason, the team lost Klay Thompson, Curry’s backcourt partner since 2011, and Chris Paul, but might have improved the roster overall by adding De’Anthony Melton, Kyle Anderson and Hield. The front office’s pursuit of a star, however, was unsuccessful, as prospective trades for Paul George and Lauri Markkanen didn’t get past the finish line. 

Golden State might not be done doing business. Forward Jonathan Kuminga and wing Moses Moody, the Warriors’ lottery picks in the 2021 draft, are both eligible for extensions on their rookie contracts until Oct. 21, the day before the 2024-25 regular season tips off.

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