Kurtenbach: Curry taken for granted?

Stephen Curry is one of the greatest players to ever grace an NBA hardwood. He’s already a first-ballot Hall of Famer. If not for Wilt Chamberlain, he would already be universally considered the greatest Warrior of all time. And in his age-33 season, he’s arguably playing the best basketball of his career.

And it’s being wasted, because the Warriors have — and are — taking Curry’s greatness for granted.

The Warriors are a middling team this season, capable of beating the league’s minnows but more often than not being smacked around by true title contenders. It’s a level of

play that’s not befitting Curry, and he’s the only reason the Warriors are this good. Without him, the Warriors would likely have one of the worst records in the NBA again.

Curry didn’t play in Thursday’s game against Phoenix for rest purposes.

So long as he’s on the team,

though, the Warriors will be competitive and engaging. They’ll sell tickets at Chase Center and probably make the playoffs.

But on their current path, it’s hard to see them ever hanging another banner in that arena.

And, worse yet, it seems as if that is part of the plan.

The Warriors effectively conceded any chance of serious title contention when Klay Thompson tore his Achilles tendon in November. It was an understandable reaction. There’s only so much you can do when your second-best player — the 10th highest-paid player in the NBA — is sidelined for a season.

But the flip side of that is a presumption of serious contention when Thompson returns next season. His addition would no doubt be large, but the Dubs are writing checks I’m not sure they can cash.

The loss Wednesday night in Portland was a tidy encapsulation of the real problem. In the closing minutes of that game, the Warriors had Kent Bazemore and Juan ToscanoAnderson on the court. To be clear, both players have been a positive for the Warriors this season.

But Portland countered with Carmelo Anthony and Gary Trent. That’s a former scoring champion, who can still give you 20 points per game off the bench at age 36 (and who is signed to a minimum contract), and another guy (Trent) who knocks down 40 percent of his 3-pointers in his third year in the league.

Incidentally, Trent was taken nine picks after Jacob Evans in the 2018 NBA Draft. Also taken after Evans, but before Trent: Jalen Brunson, Devonte Graham and Mitchell Robinson. Meanwhile, Evans is on a G League contract.

Portland is not a team that’s going to compete for a title, but the Blazers were unquestionably a deeper team than the Warriors

on Wednesday. They have developed draft picks into quality NBA players and, despite having more stringent financial limitations than the Warriors, have found creative solutions in free agency.

The Warriors’ failure to do that over recent years has put them in a bad spot, and nobody is paying a bigger price than Curry. Greatness is not eternal, even for him, and wasting even one of these MVPcaliber seasons is organizational malpractice.

Golden State has selected 11 players in the draft since 2015, and has three NBA-caliber players — James Wiseman, Eric Paschall and Kevon Looney. Don’t put it all on where they were selecting. You can’t hit 11 of your shots and always expect to win, whether it’s a game you’re playing or a roster you’re building.

The Warriors have been taking a long-term approach to team-building in the post-Kevin Durant era. It’s an overcorrection from being all-in during those three years, becoming thin

on the margins, and then having Durant leave.

But Curry didn’t leave, and he still gives the Warriors a shot.

The Dubs might not be light years ahead anymore, but their star puts them in the same galaxy as other title contenders.

But instead of maximizing every season they have with him — instead of realizing that they will never draft another player of his caliber — the Warriors seem more focused on their core in 2027. The idea is that the Warriors will blend the old core with the new, extending the run of competence into the next decade. Somewhere in the middle, there will be title contention.

It’s the Spurs model, except it presumes either a fast development by the young players or a prolonged peak for the aging core.

So much of the conversation around the NBA is about “saving” players. Anthony Davis needed to be saved from New Orleans. Bradley Beal needs to be saved from Washington. James Harden demanded out of Houston — a team that gave him everything he wanted for years — because the Rockets likely were going to a middling team, like the Warriors.

If Curry wasn’t such a professional, if he wasn’t so loyal, you could make the argument that he needs to be saved from Golden State.

Long-term competence — making the playoffs year after year — might be good for ticket sales, but the NBA is an all-in league and the Warriors have raised their fans’ expectations sky-high.

Making the playoffs might have been acceptable in the pre-Curry days, but now the only goal is winning titles. Win as many of them as you can. Fill the rafters with banners.

Worry about 2027 down the line. Go all-in with — and for — this franchisechanging player.

And if you fail in the process of winning those titles, at least you didn’t waste any of an all-time great player’s prime years.