Getty Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors speaks with Stephen Curry #30 in the first half against the LA Clippers during Game Six of Round One of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center on April 26, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Often in the NBA, star players indicate their feelings on a trade prospect or a peer by the carefully chosen words that they choose to say. In a recent case of Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry, what he’s not choosing to say is speaking volumes.
NBA insider Brian Windhorst of ESPN appeared on the July 11 edition of the daily morning program “Get Up.” During his air time, Windhorst contended that Curry’s unwillingness to state definitively that the Dubs have no interest in a reunion with Kevin Durant means something significant.
“Steph Curry’s got the kind of clout where he can shut this down, but he’s not.” 👀
—@WindhorstESPN on the rumors that KD will join the Warriors
“I think this says a lot about the Warriors organization — that they would be coming off a championship, and Steph Curry coming off a crowning moment in his career and he wouldn’t slam the door shut on this,” Windhorst said. “Steph Curry has the kind of clout where he could shut this down, but he’s not, and [Warriors owner] Joe Lacob is not.”
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Time is on Warriors’ Side Should They Attempt Trade For Kevin Durant
GettyStephen Curry (right) and Kevin Durant (left) of the Golden State Warriors leave the court in a 129-110 win over the LA Clippers during Game 6 of the first round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center on April 26, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Windhorst went on to point out that the longer trade discussions for Durant continue around the league, the more manageable the price of a deal is likely to get. The more manageable the price gets, the more likely it is that a team such as the Warriors tries to get in on the bidding.
I think the reality is that … the price tag for Durant may not be as high as the [Brooklyn] Nets wanted. And if the price tag maybe slips a little bit, which is maybe what we’re looking at at the end of … what is now turning into a stalemate, some teams that were just sort of casual bystanders in the first round [of bidding] may be like, “Wait a minute, maybe we should get in on this bidding.”
And I think, in fairness, you have to put the Warriors on this list. I don’t think it’s likely, but I think it would be irresponsible of me to say, “Scratch them off.”
Durant officially requested a trade on June 30, naming the Phoenix Suns and the Miami Heat as his preferred destinations.
The Warriors’ trio of superstars, including Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green reached out to Durant individually after news broke that Golden State had made a call to Brooklyn to inquire about Durant’s availability.
Marcus Thompson of The Athletic reported that story on July 3, though he said then that the chances of a reunion between Durant and the Dubs were “highly unlikely.”
Steph Curry’s Initial Comments on Durant Were Lukewarm at Best
Getty ImagesStephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors has been mostly quiet on the possibility of his team trading for Kevin Durant.
While Windhorst on Monday focused primarily on what Curry has not said, the Dubs’ superstar has spoken publicly on the topic of playing with Durant again, though it has only happened once since Durant made his trade request of the Nets 12 days ago.
“The rumor mill and all that stuff is part of the nature of the NBA and league, you take it for what it is,” Curry told Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area on Friday, July 8. “You know how quickly things can change, but I like where we’re at.”
Curry’s seeming dismissal of the notion of a Durant trade and his choice of words at the end of the comment — particularly “I like where we’re at” — can be interpreted as a message that the Warriors don’t need Durant to win. That message is more fact than opinion, considering Golden State did so both before Durant arrived in 2016 and after he left in 2019.
That said, winning in Golden State would be a whole lot easier with Durant on the roster than without him — something Curry, Lacob and the rest of the Warriors organization is probably pondering amid their otherwise relative silence.