Steph Curry playing for the Charlotte Hornets has always felt like a pipe dream. It’s something that has occasionally popped up as a “what if” sort of question and then faded into the background.
But lately, there’s been a little more noise. The Golden State Warriors are trending in the wrong direction, and the Hornets are trending in the right direction. It seems more plausible now than ever before.
To add fuel to the fire, Warriors ownerJoe Lacob, according to a report from Warriors insider Tim Kawakami, is looking at the future beyond Curry, and building for that would have to start sooner rather than later.
The Warriors missed out on LeBron James, so they’re now stuck with an injured Jimmy Butler, Curry, and presumably Draymond Green once he re-signs. None of those players have a long future ahead of them.
The Warriors roster is devoid of young, franchise-cornerstone talent right now, and trading some of those aging stars might be the path forward. Butler is difficult to move because he’s recovering from a torn ACL and is ridiculously expensive.
Green’s not even technically on the roster. That leaves Curry. As tough of a pill to swallow as that would be, he still has the most value and would free up a ton of cap space for the Warriors.
And if he is available, which is a huge if, the Hornets make a lot of sense. In the short-term, they need another point guard. Coby White is good, but the Hornets can’t roll with Sion James, Tre Mann, and Christian Anderson Jr. backing him up.
Unfortunately, this sort of trade remains impossibly difficult to pull off. The Hornets can’t use their $40.7 million trade exemption, the largest in NBA history, because Curry makes a lot more than that.
The Hornets also just offloaded a couple of their most helpful contracts in LaMelo Ball’s massive salary and Miles Bridges’ expiring deal. It would require some immense creativity and perhaps a third or fourth team. The Hornets could also use the trade exemption to bring on a bloated salary to help make this happen.
The Hornets need a guard, have a ton of assets, and love shooters. The Warriors want assets to rebuild with. It remains highly unlikely that Curry will ever wear anything but the iconic Warriors uniform, but the door is cracked a little bit right now.
Curry is still really good and would probably make the Hornets legitimate contenders depending on what they give up in this hypothetical trade, so it just might be worth looking into.
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