The Golden State Warriors enter play on January 19 not only hoping for the San Francisco 49ers to make a run to the Super Bowl, but with renewed hope that Stephen Curry will return to the team’s lineup in the near future.
On Sunday morning, Marcus Thompson III of The Athletic reported that the Warriors have circled the date of March 1 on their calendar with the hopes that Curry will return against the Washington Wizards.
At 10-34, Golden State has the worst record in the league and trail the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies by 11 games. By the time Curry makes his hypothetical March 22 return, the club will have about 22 games remaining in their season, so his return isn’t likely to help the team qualify for the playoffs.
Still, Curry, according to Thompson, will return this season. Although subject to change, March 1, it appears, is the date.
The question is not if Stephen Curry is coming back this season, but when. And, from what I’ve been told, you might want to clear your schedule for March 1. The Warriors host the Washington Wizards that night.
That’s not set in stone, of course. More like a target date. But expect a return by the face of the franchise before next season.
For the Warriors, the news is welcomed. Playoffs or not, the team’s first season in San Francisco’s Chase Center hasn’t yielded much to be happy about. The emergence of some of the team’s young talents has been a feel-good storyline, however, Golden State has been playing for next season since Curry went down last year.
As Thompson points out, Curry’s return (and his potentially helping the team win a few more games) could bode negatively for their draft positioning. More wins equal less ping pong balls. However, with the league somewhat flattening the odds of the worst teams winning the lottery, there is slightly less incentive to flat out tank. The Pelicans, after all, only had a 6% chance of winning the rights to Zion Williamson, but they did exactly that.
Moreover, last season, each of the six worst teams in the league fell back in the lottery. The Knicks, who owned the worst record in the league, ended up with the third overall pick. They were the only one of the six worst teams to end up with a pick more favorable than fifth overall.
Additionally, bringing Curry back will allow him to get some additional repetitions with D’Angelo Russell. That’s especially important because the team will have to make some important personnel decisions this summer.
It’s not a matter of if Curry will return to the lineup, it’s when.
And it sounds like it’ll be soon.