Steph Curry affirms Warriors' championship potential despite failing to land Paul George and Lauri Markkanen

Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors are no longer the dominant team that routinely ran through the competition in the playoffs. In fact, last season, they didn’t even make the playoffs after losing in the play-in tournament. The year before that, they lost in the second round.

However, the Warriors’ recent playoff record didn’t seem to deter Curry as he spoke about championship aspirations during Golden State’s Media Day.

When the four-time champion was asked about the team’s reported failure to land a big name in the summer and where that placed it in terms of championship contention, he said (7:40):

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“Yeah, I mean, if you're not the team that's holding the title at the end of the year, and even I'm sure they were thinking about it. Boston was like, you always were trying to get better. ... What that actually means for your team can change pretty quickly. So you go into free agency, PG's deciding whether he wants to opt in or not.

"Okay, we definitely should take that meeting. And I was a part of that process. The Lauri (Markkanen) stuff, the whole league's wondering what's going to happen there and how real trade talks are. I don't ever get caught up in that and the noise around it when something's material. Usually I know about it and we have conversations.”

Steph Curry then spoke about the Warriors’ offseason signings and how the team can still be relevant:

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“And even our free-agent signings this year, all three guys that we brought in. All our veterans, … like established veterans who know how to play the game and are good pieces that you need to be a championship type team. Does that mean we're there? I don't know. You asked all 30 teams last season, ‘Do you have championship aspirations?’

"You probably take eight of them serious, 12 of them like maybe, and only one gets to say, ‘Yeah, we had championship aspirations.’ So I think we're in that position where we can be a relevant team early and give ourselves a chance to compete and then assess where we are because that's what every team has to go through.”

While Steph Curry might indeed believe the Golden State Warriors can be relevant, it may take a Herculean effort from him and his supporting cast to outclass the competition.

Steph Curry has constantly said he wants the Warriors to stay competitive

While Steph Curry has always maintained he wants to end his career with the Golden State Warriors, he, however, doesn’t want to compromise winning. He wants to stay competitive and compete for championships. Earlier in the summer, Curry said, via Yahoo:

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“I always want to win, plain and simple. And there's no contentment on just cashing a check and playing basketball and riding it out. Pressure is applied on, like, I want to win.”

Winning in the NBA is a tough ask, though. And with no legit All-Star running mate with him, Curry might find the task a bit too challenging.

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