Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry should be traded within the next 2 years

The Golden State Warriors should trade Stephen Curry within two years before his status as a top 5 player goes away due to injuries

There is an old sports axiom that states it is better to get rid of a player a year too early than a year too late. A prime example of this is when Danny Ainge traded Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Brooklyn Nets before the start of the 2013-14 season. In return, he received three unprotected first-round picks (2014, 2016, 2018), and the right to swap first-rounders in 2017.

According to MassLive.com, Danny made the trade because Brooklyn gave him an offer too good to refuse and he realized that the current incarnation of the Celtics couldn’t beat Miami:

"“So, Brooklyn showed a great deal of interest in putting a Dream Team together at any cost, it seemed like. The opportunity for us to acquire a lot of young assets and get younger and move on to a different phase presented itself. And we felt like where we were as a team, it was going to be very difficult to be a championship contender if we were able to keep Paul and KG. The opportunity presented itself”."

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At the time of the trade, KG had entered the back end of his career but was still seen as a player who would provide significant contributions to a potential championship contender. During his final season with the Celtics, KG averaged 14.8 points with 7.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists.

This was a decrease of four points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists from his best season as a Boston Celtic in 2007-08. Garnett’s regression is related to a season-ending right knee injury he sustained going up for a lob in a game against Utah during the 2009 season. Kevin was never able to play a full season with Boston again due to issues with the right knee.

After Kevin Garnett arrived in Brooklyn, his body continued to break down as he suffered from back spasms forcing him to miss 19 straight games. The back in combination with the preexisting knee injury made Garnett into a shell of his former self as he saw a decrease of 7.9 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists from the previous year. It symbolized the beginning of the end for this experiment as they saw a second-round exit in the playoffs.

Two seasons later, Paul and KG were both gone, and the Nets became a lottery team enabling Danny Angie to acquire Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Kyrie Irving with those assets.

The success of the Boston trade should make other teams like Golden State Warriors consider trading their top superstar. The Warriors top superstar is Stephen Curry who has gained the reputation of being injury prone.

He started to have health problems when he turned his right ankle in the last week of the preseason vs. the Los Angeles Lakers before the start of his second season. According to Fox Sports Philippines, Steph didn’t miss any time but would continue to turn his right ankle throughout that season:

"He once again hurt the ankle during the second regular season game versus “the Clippers, after stepping on Blake Griffin’s foot. And on December 2010, he sprained his ankle against the Spurs while dribbling the ball. He didn’t step on anyone’s foot that time and there was really nothing awkward about how he moved”."

After the season Curry underwent the first right ankle surgery of his career called ankle stabilization surgery to assist with the reattachment and strengthening of torn ligaments. Unfortunately, the operation was not successful as Curry missed 40 games with recurring right ankle problems.

Consequently, he underwent a second right ankle procedure to clean out a lot of scar tissue and removes loose bodies after the 2011-12 season. The Guardian spoke to Steph’s surgeon, Dr. Richard Ferkel six years after the operation to get an explanation as to why he was having a recurring issue with the right ankle:

"” Ankle sprains are the most common injury in the NBA primarily because NBA players put a huge amount of stress on their ankles with all of the sharp cutting and jumping.”"

During this interview, he also talked about the potential ramifications of suffering future ankle injuries for NBA players including Curry:

"After each sprain the ankle becomes more likely to re-sprain, to the point that the ankle starts to roll in weird ways – simple jogging, shooting or walking down the street – with little provocation. The ankle ligaments, once strong and stable through the crazy side-to-side stresses of basketball, become as weak as tissue paper."

Despite having the second surgery, Curry’s right ankle issue returned in a home game against the Wizards on March 23rd, 2013. Steph rolled his ankle as former Washington Wizard Cartier Martin intentionally fouled him.

It seemed as if Stephen Curry was going to be plagued by right ankle injuries for the duration of his career until the Warriors hired Keke Lyles as performance director in 2013. According to ESPN, Keke suggested that he learn how to unload his ankles:

"” We wanted to teach Steph how to load his hips to help unload his ankles.”"

Curry took her advice after the 2013 season and added new exercises to his workout regimen:

"” Curry swiftly perfected a yoga pose called the single-leg hip airplane, designed to build balance and core strength. He conquered the hip hinge, the fundamental movement of explosive lower-body exercises, in 10 minutes. He even mastered textbook trap-bar dead lifts, which amplify glutes and hamstrings, during his introductory session with Lyles”."

The new exercises gave Steph temporary relief as he only suffered two significant injuries over the next four years in the form of an ankle and knee sprain. The temporary resolution to Stephen Curry’s right ankle injuries allowed him to improve his statistics significantly. Curry averaged 25.8 points with 7.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds over these four years with good health.

This was an increase of 6.6 points, 1.3 assists and 0.6 rebounds from the first four years of his career. Steph’s statistical improvement played a vital role in him capturing two NBA MVP awards and championships in that span.

Sadly, Curry’s basketball health took a turn for the worse last season as he turned the ankle four times in four months, with his first injury coming on December 4th in a road game against the New Orleans Pelicans.As a result, he missed the Warriors’ next 11 games.

Curry would end up sidelined for 22 regular season games with issues associated with the right ankle. His right ankle wasn’t the only injured body part Steph had to deal with as he suffered a left knee sprain after JaVale McGee hit the knee coming down from a rebound attempt.

The accidental injury caused him to miss the final nine regular season games and the first 6 playoff games. Injuries have continued to keep Stephen Curry off the floor this season as he sustained a strained left groin vs. the Milwaukee Bucks.

Steph’s inability to stay on the floor recently puts the long-term success of the Golden State Warriors organization in question. The organization is currently uncertain about the status of Kevin Durant for next season as there are strong rumors of him signing with the Knicks.

Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes appeared on FS1’s Undisputed and stated that the New York Knicks would be in the running to acquire the services of Durant:

"” The New York Knicks have a very good shot at luring KD away from the Bay Area. The reason I say that is his business partner, Rich Kleiman, is based in New York. A huge New York Knicks fan. Their business is located and based in New York. KD’s dad is a big New York Knicks fan. The same allure that LeBron had toward the Los Angeles Lakers, just the building, the culture, the same thing, the same way, I know that KD feels about the Knicks.”"

If Durant left, Curry would have to take on the most prominent role he has ever had with the team because it will be difficult for them to add depth to the roster. The team is currently scheduled to be anywhere between $600 thousand to $17.8 million over the cap dependent on the size of Klay Thompson‘s contract. Klay’s new deal is rumored to be between 102-188 million over five years.

Consequently, the Golden State Warriors should trade Stephen Curry within the next two years while he is still viewed as a top 5 player. A possible Steph trade would allow Golden State to acquire up and coming players with superstar potential. For example, if the Warriors were to contact Philadelphia about a possible trade, they would be able to get Ben Simmons as the centerpiece in the deal.

The Philadelphia 76ers are currently 20th in 3-point shooting percentage at 34.5 percent. The lack of shooting allows the opposing coach to position the defense below the 3-point line forcing Philadelphia to take heavily contested shots regularly.

Adding Steph would force the opposing coach to stretch the defense as he has a career 3-point shooting percentage of 43.8 percent. On the other hand, the Warriors get a 22-year-old point forward who has a similar skill set to LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo. This is just one example of trade as Golden State can call Boston and Toronto about a potential deal.

However, if the Warriors keep Stephen Curry, there is a high likelihood that they will not win a championship after this season due to his injury history. Therefore, they would be better off with an up and coming player who has room to grow and can entice future free agents to join the team.