Stephen Curry’s right ankle gave Golden State’s carefully measured future plan an immediate problem Sunday. The Warriors’ 38-year-old guard left the open practice at Chase Center after a noncontact injury the team identified as a sprain. No severity grade or return date was provided, and the regular-season opener at the Lakers is still scheduled for Wednesday.
That leaves the Warriors with an uncomfortable business distinction. A contract can preserve Curry’s place in the organization and make later roster decisions easier. It cannot supply his minutes this week, especially while several other players are already unavailable or working back toward availability.
The September extension remains a defensible decision. Curry agreed to a reported two-year, $116 million package, about $20 million below the maximum, with a player option for 2028-29. Golden State retained the player who has shaped its offense for more than a decade while avoiding the full price of a maximum extension for someone entering his 18th NBA season.
There was plenty of basketball logic behind that choice. Curry’s scoring average last season was 26.6 points across 43 appearances. He also averaged 4.7 assists, useful creation that the Warriors still need.
A right-knee problem kept him out for 27 consecutive games and sidelined him for more than two months. The Warriors eventually missed the playoffs after losing the play-in game at Phoenix, but replacing Curry’s shooting gravity and ballhandling would have been far more difficult than committing money to him.
The financial structure offers Golden State a future checkpoint. His reported salary is $62.6 million for 2026-27 and $55.7 million the season after that, with the option year creating another decision point beyond it. That is meaningful flexibility in a later roster cycle. It is not current-season cap space, and it certainly is not another lead guard waiting beside Steve Kerr when Curry cannot practice.
Sunday also arrived after a cautious buildup. NBC Sports Bay Area reported that the Warriors had reduced Curry’s scrimmaging and higher-intensity work as the opener approached. His preseason workload stayed below 18 minutes per game; he averaged 13 points, converted 20 of 45 field-goal attempts and made 13 of 31 from long range.
Those numbers come from a deliberately limited sample, so they cannot define his season. They describe a limited exhibition workload, rather than a full rehearsal for the season.
The rest of the roster makes that shortage more consequential. Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody were rehabbing leg injuries Sunday. Kristaps Porziņģis had been away for approximately three weeks because of an illness.
Charles Bassey missed the public practice with right-knee tendinitis. Brandin Podziemski was not part of the public session, although Kerr said Podziemski had practiced earlier and did not identify him as injured. The details differ, but the practical effect is similar: the group available for immediate preparation is smaller than the nominal roster.
