Stephen Curry says Warriors shouldn’t make ‘desperate’ moves

TORONTO – With the trade deadline just over three weeks away, Golden State star guard Stephen Curry wants to see the slumping Warriors improve, but not at the cost of a “desperate” move that would “deplete the future” of the franchise.

The Warriors fell below .500 for the first time all season with a 104-101 loss to the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena on Monday. Since a 12-3 start, the Warriors have lost 17 of 24 games and are now 19-20.

Still, Curry doesn’t want to see panic. And he echoed a sentiment that general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr., coach Steve Kerr and star forward Draymond Green have said since training camp began in Hawaii: The Warriors shouldn’t make any rash decisions in trades, especially if they have to surrender young players or the draft.

“Desperate trades or desperate moves that deplete the future, there’s a responsibility to allow or keep the franchise in a good place and a good place when it comes to where we leave this thing when we’re done,” Curry said. “Doesn’t mean you’re not trying to get better. Doesn’t mean you’re not active in any kind of search for if you have an opportunity where a trade makes sense or even in summer free agency (move) makes sense You will continue to improve.

“Nobody wants to be out of date or be in a situation where you’re missing out on opportunities. But that doesn’t mean you’re desperately throwing assets around just because you want to do something.”

The franchise center said this in response to Green telling Yahoo Sports that he, Kerr and Curry are in lock step with the idea of ​​the team not mortgaging its future and making a potential bad trade.

“Mike understands that we want to win,” Curry said. “We want to be in the position where we’ve always said you want to be relevant in the championship type of chasing. Although we understand we’re getting older and deeper into our careers and giving some of the young guys the opportunity kind of flourish, it doesn’t mean you get desperate.”

Kerr, Dunleavy, Curry and Green have preached patience since camp and wanted to see what this roster can do. But that patience is tested almost every night. The latest loss comes to a Raptors team that is now 9-31.

The Warriors were short-handed Monday without Green (illness/back), Jonathan Kuminga (ankle), Gary Payton II (calf) and Brandin Podziemski (abdominal). Still, Golden State was up by nine points with 9:27 left. The Warriors clung to a 101-98 lead with 2:34 left, but they couldn’t score again.

Golden State missed its last five shots, including three 3-point attempts in the final 44.7 seconds from Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Buddy Hield. Hield’s contested 29-footer at the buzzer fell short and skimmed the net.

Meanwhile, one-time Warrior Chris Boucher scored 17 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter for Toronto.

Afterwards, a frustrated Kerr pointed the finger at himself.

“Just didn’t look good, didn’t execute very well, wasn’t disciplined enough and that’s my fault,” Kerr said. “I’m the coach of the team. I have to find a way to help this team. And I’m not doing a good job of that.

“This is as frustrating a night as we’ve had all season for me.”

Curry finished with 26 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds, but Toronto kept the all-time 3-point leader from touching the ball in the final game.

The guard has been frustrated at times this season. He acknowledged that the team was “in the middle” with its average play earlier during this slump. Curry, Green and Kerr have tried a variety of approaches to getting out of the fray, from Curry and Green talking to the players to Kerr starting 22 different lineups this season.

Golden State next heads to Minneapolis looking to get back to .500 with a win against the Timberwolves on Wednesday.

“It stinks!” Kerr said. “It stinks. I don’t like falling below .500. But here we are, so we’ve got to do better.”