Coming from a franchise icon, silences can often sound like warnings, and it’s no different with Stephen Curry. With the Golden State Warriors absolutely decimated with injuries and doubts about their ceiling, the same question has crept back into the conversation: Is this the beginning of the end for Curry in San Francisco? According to one Bay Area insider, there’s a clear answer.

“I would love it if this whole city and our entire market and anybody who’s a member of Dub Nation just put away this worry about Steph leaving,” Mark Willard explained on Willard and Dibs. “Yeah, it ain’t happening. There’s not been one shred of evidence that that’s even on his mind.”

That’s a flat denial from a trusted Warriors information source, and Willard’s point reframes the debate. To him, most people are looking at the situation through the wrong lens. Right now, the assumption is that if Golden State can’t maximize what’s left of Curry’s prime, he’ll look elsewhere, but that ignores something big: How does the superstar view himself?

According to Willard, there’s no other organization that’s going to let Curry take the reigns or rebuild their entire system to fit around his shooting prowess the same way the Warriors have over nearly two decades. Curry is more than just a star player, and even during the Kevin Durant years, the structure revolved around Curry’s presence.

Practically, there’s other obstacles in the way. Curry is owed roughly $62.6 million, keeping him under contract through summer 2027. At nearly $60 million per year, any trade would need massive salary sent in return and a roster overhaul from the acquiring team. In today’s CBA, that’s both complicated and disrupted.

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“You can make it work,” Willard said of a potential trade. “But does he like the way that looks? … Does he want to go just kind of be shooter, number two, number three, whatever?”

Even Danny Ainge Tried to Trade for Stephen Curry And It Still Wasn’t Happening

Willard’s words provide reassurance at a crucial time for Warriors fans. Recently a story resurfaced which connected Stephen Curry to the Boston Celtics. It involved overenthusiastic executives doing what they do, asking questions, and relayed by former GM and championship architect Bob Myers.

“Look, I was never upset with anybody asking,” Myers told Adrian Wojnarowski on the Woj Podcast back in 2024. “A GM’s job is to mine for trades. That’s a GM’s job. But [Danny] Ainge was the one always asking. I owe my career to Ainge, so I couldn’t be upset. Everybody knew that was not happening so it was a good laugh.”

The message was clear: regardless of who asked, there was never a scenario Curry was truly available. However, in many ways, that kind of persistence fits Ainge’s resume. During his decorated tenure as an executive with the Celtics and now with the Utah Jazz, he built a reputation for extremely opportunistic and aggressive moves, and it’s that kind of elite executive that always checks on generational talent, even if they know the answer before they make the call.