Which "Title Contender" Is Planning to "Poach" Steph Curry If Kevin Durant Doesn't Work Out?

Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors are set up to win multiple titles over the next few years. Unless something goes horribly wrong. In which case, Curry’s contract ends after next season and Durant has a player option. One or both players could move on if the team doesn’t mesh and according to ESPN’s Ric Bucher, one “title contender” already has their eye on Curry and is ready and willing to again make him “the man.”

Now, dismissing this report – as Bill Simmons did with The Vertical’s February report that the Warriors were planning to pursue Kevin Durant this summer – would be stupid. Ric Bucher is a real reporter who would totally have a team tell him they want Stephen Curry.

Who wouldn’t want Stephen Curry? If you’re running a team and you’re not hoping Durant and Curry don’t work well together and you’re not figuring out how you could possibly make a run at a 2-time MVP, you are not doing a good job.

Bucher says that the team that is preparing to make a run at Curry is a “title contender,” but the only actual title contenders are the Warriors, Spurs and Cavaliers. The Thunder were, but then Durant went to the Warriors and the Warriors aren’t the team hoping things don’t work out between Durant and Curry.

That leaves the Spurs and Cavs. The Cavaliers already have Kyrie Irving. The Spurs would be an interesting fit. Tony Parker is 34. Tim Duncan retired. Kawhi Leonard and LeMarcus Aldridge with Stephen Curry would be formidable. But would this be the kind of thing the Spurs would say out loud to someone in the media? Gregg Popovich probably doesn’t even announce his wine selection at dinner unless he knows the waiter.

I think we have to throw out actual contenders and go with delusional contenders. That’s the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics.

While the Knicks probably fancy themselves contenders – a superteam even! – in the East now that they’ve signed a few guys people have actually heard of, I doubt someone like Bucher who follows basketball would actually refer to them as a title contender.

That leaves us with the Boston Celtics. The Celtics are favorites to sign everyone in the minds of Celtics fans, so this perfectly fits the Boston narrative. With the addition of Al Horford, a player who was once on a team that won 8 playoff games in a single postseason, some people consider the Celtics a credible threat to keep LeBron James and James Jones out of the Finals for the first time since 2010.

So it’s almost definitely the Boston Celtics who think they’re going to acquire Stephen Curry if he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer.