Over the last three seasons the Golden State Warriors have developed into a juggernaut, winning two NBA Championships and breaking the record for win in a season. With Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson, some argue the Warriors have the best collection of talent in NBA history.
One of the reasons they have been able to assemble such a talented roster and keep everyone happy is that Curry has been severely underpaid. Curry agreed to a four-year $44 million extension in 2012 which allowed the Warriors to give Green and Thompson big extensions while still having the money to bring in players like Andre Iguodala and, of course, Durant.
The days of Curry being the NBA’s best bargain are now over as Shams Charania of The Vertical reports that Curry and the Warriors have agreed to a five-year deal that will make Curry the highest paid player in NBA history:
Stephen Curry has reached agreement on a five-year, $201 maximum contract with the Golden State Warriors, league sources told The Vertical.
Curry’s agent, Jeff Austin, and Warriors general manager Bob Myers started discussions at midnight ET on Saturday to finalize Curry’s full max deal, which makes him the highest-paid player in NBA history. Curry became eligible for the Designated Player Veteran Contract last year because he earned All-NBA honors and league MVP for a second consecutive season.
Curry has undoubtedly earned every penny of that contract with his play over the last few years. Curry won back-to-back regular season MVPs in 2015 and 2016 while becoming one of the biggest stars in the NBA.
If there was one criticism to be had on Curry it was that he had seemingly come up short in the Warriors two previous Finals appearances. But Curry shut those concerns down by averaging 26.8 points, 9.4 assists, and 8.0 rebounds in the Warriors five-game victory over the Cavaliers, a performance that would garner Finals MVP in most years.
There was never any doubt that Curry would return to the Warriors in free agency and now the NBA world will wait and see how much money they give Durant as well. It may cost them one of their most important role players however, as Andre Iguodala has gotten plenty of attention in free agency already.