It’s the day that Warriors fans never want to come, but the reality is that Steph Curry will have to retire at some point.
The 36-year-old has made it clear that he wants to play in the league for as long as he can and he certainly has no trouble getting around on the court as it stands.
Curry was even doing sand hill drills in Dubai during the offseason to keep himself fit.
But one day, he will have to ride off into the sunset and one Western Conference executive recently floated the idea of Hawks guard Dejounte Murray eventually replacing Curry.
“Of all the guys they might be able to trade for, he is probably realistic because he does not make a ton of money and they could add him, put him in Chris Paul’s spot, give up two first-round picks and now you’ve gotten some defense in there, you’ve got another scorer in there, you have a guy who make some sense,” the Western Conference exec told Heavy Sports.
“He’s 6-foot-5, he can guard three spots, he is an OK shooter and he won’t break your bank.”
Not breaking the bank is definitely a win for Golden State, as the franchise have one of the highest luxury tax bills in the league.
Adding Murray to the team sooner rather than later could be beneficial as Steph could teach him a thing or two.
“No one is gonna replace Steph,” the exec continued. “But that team needs to look at everybody they might think of getting and ask, ‘Stephen Curry replacement?’ ‘Stephen Curry replacement?’ If you can bring in Murray, you’ve got a point guard for the next five or 10 years if you want him. That’s a start on replacing him.”
The Warriors may prefer to target a wing instead of another guard.
But Murray was impressive for Atlanta during the 2023-24 season after averaging a career-high 22.5 points, while making 45.9 percent of shots from the field and 36.3 percent of shots from three.
His durability is also to be noted, since he played in 78 games this season and 74 in the season before.