Stephen Curry, Warriors
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Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors warms up before their game against the Miami Heat at Chase Center on January 19, 2026 in San Francisco, California.
The Golden State Warriors have not done enough to help Stephen Curry, who turns 38 next month, pursue his fifth NBA championship. That is the opinion of Andscape’s David Dennis Jr., who believes the trade deadline acquisition of Kristaps Porzingis won’t help Golden State make noise in the upcoming playoffs.
“This is an abject failure by the Golden State Warriors,” Dennis Jr. told ESPN’s “SportsCenter” after the Warriors acquired Porzingis from the Atlanta Hawks.
“They put all their eggs in the Giannis Antetokounmpo basket, because they had no other choice. That front office has spent the last decade trying to convince us that they’re lightyears ahead of everybody, and building for the future, even though they have a generational star on the roster in Stephen Curry.
“They’ve taken their once-in-a-lifetime star and done the best they can to squander the end his career,” fumed Dennis Jr.
The insider added that “nobody can blame” Curry if he were to seek a trade.
Warriors Trade Deadline Moves
“The Warriors are looking at a dead-end season because of what they’ve built around Stephen Curry,” added Dennis Jr.
In fairness to the Warriors’ front office, they have been rather aggressive in bringing in star reinforcements over the last few years. After trading for Jimmy Butler III at last year’s trade deadline, they made an aggressive push for Giannis Antetokounmpo this year, so much so that they were willing to surrender all their future draft capital and trade every player not named Stephen Curry. Ultimately, they settled for Porzingis, which wasn’t a sexy move, but one that could keep Golden State competitive.
List of Warriors Blunders
The Warriors have made a series of questionable decisions since 2020, even though they raised a banner in 2022. First, they squandered the No. 2 pick in the 2020 Draft on James Wiseman, a player they eventually traded for an injured Gary Payton II. Then, they traded Jordan Poole, Ryan Rollins and a first-round pick to the Washington Wizards for Chris Paul, only to let CP3 walk as a free agent the following year.
On Wednesday, they traded Jonathan Kuminga, who was once viewed as the next Warriors franchise star, for an injury-prone Porzingis on an expiring contract. Again, not a long-term move that stands to benefit Curry’s chances of winning a title.
In between all those moves, the Warriors may have erred by rejecting a trade for Lauri Markkanen in 2024, when they had a chance to acquire the Utah Jazz sharpshooter for a bargain price of Brandin Podziemski and one first-round draft pick.
Curry, who feels a fifth NBA championship would complete his legacy, has no desire to seek a trade from the Warriors, per multiple insiders.
“Steph has never sent any signals that he has any intention of anything other than finishing [his career] with the Warriors,” The Athletic’s Sam Amick said recently.
“He still has good relationships with Joe Lacob, Mike Dunleavy and the coaching staff. He still has a level of belief in them.”
Perhaps Curry’s patience wears thin at some point during the 2026-27 season, when Butler will be sidelined for most of the season and Porzingis is not a lock to return. Curry has the option of testing free agency in 2027.