SAN FRANCISCO -- In his first public appearance since signing a two-year, $116 million extension with the Golden State Warriors, superstar point guard Stephen Curry explained why he decided to recommit to the only NBA franchise he has ever known.
"This is home," Curry said. "This is what we've built. This is a community that I've played in front of my entire career. Being able to finish the story the right way is a big part of what I can control."
Curry entered the offseason on a one-year, $62.6 million expiring contract. He became eligible for an extension on Aug. 29 and general manager Mike Dunleavy immediately gave Curry a menu of options, including a contract up to his max or a wait-and-see approach, which would've delivered the front office extra time and financial flexibility.
Curry contemplated for nearly a month and landed on the two-year, $116 million middle ground approach this past Friday, giving him late-career security and the Warriors some extra financial breathing room.
It's more than $20 million below the two-year, $136.7 million Curry was eligible to sign, but it includes a player option in the second season, so Curry has only truly committed to a $10 million pay cut for a single season.
"We're all smart people in this room," Curry said. "So you can kind of read the tea leaves on why it's designed the way that it is."
Dunleavy and the Warriors' front office have intentionally loaded their books with large expiring contracts, setting themselves up for an ocean of cap space to either be leveraged near the trade deadline or utilized next summer.
Curry's $55.7 million contract for 2027-28 cuts that theoretical cap space nearly in half, but the $10 million pay cut is enough of a gift to give the Warriors some extra cushion in their planning.
"I'm not fast-forwarding to February," Curry said. "I'm not fast-forwarding to next offseason. None of that. It's start Game 1, try to win. If we're competitive and doing what we're supposed to do, then that's information learned on how we need to get better."
The already wounded Warriors were delivered an extra bit of bad news Monday. Starting center Kristaps Porzingis is out indefinitely with another "health issue," as Dunleavy termed it, after missing large chunks of the past two seasons with a mysterious illness.
Porzingis will not travel with the team to Hawai'i on Monday night, ruling him out for the first four practices of training camp and the preseason opener next Sunday against the LA Clippers in Honolulu.
"I'm not marking him down as being out to start the [regular] season or anything like that," Dunleavy said. "He's just not available this week."
The Warriors are already without starting wings Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody, both limited to individual light court work in the middle stages of rehab for significant knee injuries. They won't be back in the lineup for multiple months.
That has generated some general pessimism about the Warriors' chances this season and the Porzingis deactivation right before training camp served as the latest blow for an older, limited core around Curry.
"If it's the alternative [and we aren't competitive], then you make decisions based off of that, too," Curry said. "I think for me [the contract decision] is how I've approached every opportunity in my career. You can't fast-forward your mind, or else you're not going to be to do your job as a player to try to win."
Porzingis signed a two-year, $40 million contract this offseason, but only $3 million of the $20 million for the second season is guaranteed. Butler is on an expiring $56.8 million contract. Draymond Green returned on a one-year, $27.6 million deal.
There is plenty of uncertainty about the future supporting cast around Curry, who will turn 39 in March. But there is certainty about Curry's desire to finish his career, entering its 18th season, with the Warriors.
"There's a pride of representing the Bay," Curry said. "Representing this franchise that when I stepped foot here in 2009 and what we've all been able to accomplish -- this isn't just a me thing, this is a we -- I want to do right by that. It's always been an importance for me, and going into this contract decision, that was front of mind."