“When I know, I know…” A sort of ominous response from the face of the Warriors franchise when asked what the team is planning for the season. Once again, the Dubs’ front office has made head-scratching a national pastime. They aren’t budging this free agency, their VP of basketball development and the son of the owner just quit, they’ve shut down trades for Jonathan Kuminga, and somehow the person they’re building around is out of the loop. No worries. There’s nothing Stephen Curry can’t do if not improvise.

He had some thoughts about what the team management is doing. Most of the tone he’s setting involves being himself and rallying his teammates to send a message to the front office.

Steph Curry’s staying positive

The Curry Camp is back in the Bay Area. While talking about shaping future hoops stars is the theme, reporters had to ask Stephen Curry about how the Warriors’ offseason is going. Very specifically, he was informed that the Golden State is the only team not to make any moves this free agency. His response?

“For real?” That got a few chuckles, and he did say that, “I didn’t know… when I know, I know.” The Chef has his own way of recalibrating in such a situation. “It’s different for sure,” Curry said at Arrillaga Family Gymnasium on Thursday afternoon. “But my confidence is built on the identity we were able to create over the last third of the regular season last year and the playoff journey.”

Yet, he very subtly asked for a little reinforcement. “We have a really good team, and we do know we need some pieces to help get us to the next level.” That almost echoes what fans and analysts have said about this team’s aging core. They lost Klay Thompson to Dallas but got another veteran in Jimmy Butler. Even their primary trade target this off-season is a 39-year-old Al Horford.

Meanwhile, analysts like Charles Barkley have publicly pleaded with the Warriors to develop a new young core around the  likes of Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield, instead of focusing on the “Three old guys.” Normally, Steph & Co. have a humorous response to Barkley calling them ‘old‘ and “cooked.” This time, Curry turned the consensus into a positive for an unchanging roster. “I think our veteran presence that we have with me, Jimmy [Butler], Draymond [Green], like we understand how to prepare through that uncertainty and be able to hit the ground running in training camp, knowing, you know, we should have some movement by then.”

With the team the way it is right now, Curry’s got a clear mindset going into the next season. “But you control what you can control, and no matter how many new experiences you have or whatever the differences of this offseason versus previous ones, like you don’t let it affect your own personal preparation for the season and then the conversations that we’re having on what we need to do to get ready.”

Curry is experienced enough with the business to adapt to what he’s got. What he has right now is the same nine-man roster he ended last season with. Unless Kuminga steps up big time and makes a serious case for being a starter.

Stephen Curry’s adjustment to the Jonathan Kuminga dilemma

At this point, the Warriors and Kuminga are that annoying couple in a friend group that don’t break up because they can’t decide who gets the cat and the larger chunk of the social circle. Most fans, and even Kuminga himself, are fed up, but the Dubs front office is stubborn.

They’ve extended the Kuminga stalemate, which in turn has limited the Warriors in the trade market. After turning down the Warriors’ offer of a two-year, $45M extension with a team option, Kuminga is ready to stiff himself to get out. With no resolution in sight for now, this stalemate might drag on till the pre-season training camp starts.

As is well reported, Jonathan Kuminga has two options in front of him. Either find himself a team before the trade deadline or take up the $7.9 million qualifying offer and enter the market next year as an unrestricted free agent. If Kuminga opts for the latter, it will be a huge kick up the backside of the Warriors, who won’t have any tradeable salary for another top-billed player. And what are the team’s chances of developing its draft selections?

This is another thorn in the Warriors’ reputation. In recent years, the Golden State has developed an unwanted distinction as an organization where young talents go unappreciated. Case in point: the Jordan Poole situation in 2023, and the ongoing issue with Jonathan Kuminga.

Warriors insider Tim Kawakami has been vocal in criticism of Kuminga for declining the two-year deal the Warriors offered him. “You’d have $45 million potentially in your pocket if they pick up that second year, and you can become a free agent at 24. That’s not a terrible situation for him, given versus taking $7.9 million and then being locked with the Warriors for a year when Steve Kerr is not guaranteeing him 30 minutes a game,” said Kawakami.

Although the Congolese forward shone in the playoffs last season, Steve Kerr has shown his reluctance in making the 2021 draft pick a crucial part of the rotation. The situation worsened for Kuminga when the Warriors added Jimmy Butler to the roster in midseason.

Given the current situation of the roster, analysts believe that it would be best for Golden State to plan its season with the assumption that Jonathan Kuminga will depart and hope that Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler manage to stay fit throughout the season. But as we have learned from previous occasions, ‘hope’ alone is a long-term strategy.