Stephen Curry on Warriors' Expectations: 'A Championship Is Still the Goal'
Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry said the franchise still has its eyes on the 2020 NBA championship despite Kevin Durant leaving to join the Brooklyn Nets and Klay Thompson suffering a torn ACL, which has left his status for the 2019-20 season unsettled.
Curry told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports in an interview released Thursday the team must "create a new identity" without losing sight of the ultimate objective.
"A championship is still the goal," he said. "It's always been. We've experienced it all, and we're going to keep pushing to get back there. That's the goal. It's the North Star. The narrative might have changed internally, but we're still chasing the same goal."
Along with Durant, the Warriors' offseason departures also included Andre Iguodala, DeMarcus Cousins, Quinn Cook and Andrew Bogut.
D'Angelo Russell, who will help Curry lead the offense in Thompson's absence, headlined a limited group of additions that also featured Willie Cauley-Stein and Alec Burks.
Draymond Green returns to set the frontcourt tone, and the Dubs will need him to bounce back from a mildly disappointing season if they're going to seriously compete in the loaded Western Conference.
Curry told Haynes even he's not sure how all the pieces will fit together, but he's confident the Warriors will be a threat once the playoffs roll around:
"We've always talked about focusing on the first 20 games, but this season, it doesn't mean as we've said before. In the past, it was focusing on the first 20 games just to break up the 82-game monotony of the season. Now, it's like the first 20 games [are] in a sense of urgency. We've got to start off on the right foot and create a new identity and basically have fun playing basketball no matter what happens, while working through some of the unknowns.
"Even me trying to explain it to you, I just don't even know what it's going to look like for us on the court. And every day it's going to be fresh and new considering all the success we've had in the past. Every day is extremely important if we're going to be a playoff team. And when we get Klay back and get to the playoffs and understand who we are, nobody is going to want to see us in the playoffs. I think that's pretty well-known."
Caesars Sportsbook lists the Warriors with the fifth-best NBA championship odds at +800 despite the uncertainty. They trail only the Los Angeles Lakers (+300), Los Angeles Clippers (+400), Milwaukee Bucks (+600) and Houston Rockets (+700).
Golden State wraps up the preseason Friday night against the Lakers before opening the regular season next Thursday when it takes on the Clippers.
