With his ankle issues behind him, Stephen Curry‘s four-year, $44MM extension that he signed with the Warriors in the fall of 2012 is looking more and more team-friendly, writes Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com in a lengthy profile. The league’s Most Valuable Player missed only 10 games in the three years since and is making just a little more than $10.629MM on the backloaded deal. Improved coordination and balance with his hips has helped Curry stay on the court, Haberstroh explains after speaking with Keke Lyles, the Warriors’ director of athletic performance. Curry has added strength the past two years as well, which has helped him stay injury-free, Haberstroh adds. For example, Curry, who is listed at 190 pounds, can now deadlift 400 pounds, according to Lyles.
Here’s more out of Golden State:
- Without Kyrie Irving for the remainder of the finals, the Cavaliers are expected to increase the role of Matthew Dellavedova, who can become a restricted free agent this summer if Cleveland tenders him a qualifying offer worth $1,147,276, and the Warriors are not underestimating the backup point guard, Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group writes. “We’re preparing for him to come out and all guns are blazing,” said Warriors center Andrew Bogut. “We need to make sure we’re ready for him because if we think this is going to be easy with Kyrie out, we’ve got another thing coming.”
- The Warriors’ second unit, comprised of Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, Marreese Speights, Festus Ezeli and Leandro Barbosa, has allowed the team to use rotations of 10 and 11 players during the season and it gives them a big advantage over the injury-riddled Cavs in the finals, Jeff Faraudo of the Bay Area News Group writes. Barbosa and Speights, who have both played well off the bench, will be unrestricted free agents this summer. Barbosa has averaged seven points per game this season, while Speights has averaged 10.4 points per game and 4.3 rebounds per game.