No, Celtics have not made trade offer for Stephen Curry

Stephen Curry has not requested a trade from the Warriors. The Celtics have not made an offer for him.

Welcome to August in the NBA.

As Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports explained, some recent Curry speculation began with a hypothetical from Celtics reporter John Karalis of SI.com and the “Locked On Celtics” podcast.

Karalis wrote that if Golden State ever decided to entertain offers for Curry, Celtics president Brad Stevens would be first in line. The word “if” was fairly important.

Some aggregators nevertheless turned the premise into a report that Stevens had contacted the Warriors and made an offer for Curry. That did not happen, and Karalis never reported that it did.

Could Curry eventually become available? Technically, yes.

He is entering the final season of his contract at $62.6 million. If he doesn’t sign an extension after becoming eligible this month, questions about his future will naturally follow. But that’s not where things stand today.

The prevailing belief around the NBA, Deveney wrote, is that Curry will not request a trade. ESPN’s Anthony Slater also recently reported mutual interest between Curry and the Warriors in completing a two-year extension worth approximately $136.7 million.

So, yes, the Celtics would presumably call if one of the greatest players in NBA history suddenly became available. So would just about every other contender with access to a telephone.

That doesn’t mean Curry is available. It doesn’t mean Boston has made an offer. And it certainly doesn’t mean the Warriors are considering one.

As it stands, Curry remains with the only franchise he has ever known, and both sides appear interested in keeping it that way. 

The Celtics-Curry story wasn’t a trade report. It was a hypothetical that lost an important word while traveling around the internet.

That word was “if.”