Can you believe it? The Bill Simmons Podcast is already a hundred episodes old. On this Very Special Episode, Bill and Joe House spend a few moments batting around the possibility that the Warriors might be able to give Stephen Curry a raise before his contract is up, thanks to a rule buried deep in the collective bargaining agreement. This transcript, which Joe Lacob will surely be closely inspecting, has been edited and condensed.
Bill Simmons: The Warriors, this is what I heard … if they let [Harrison] Barnes go and they let [Festus] Ezeli go, they could give the extra cap money to Steph [Curry]. They could pay him a year early. Nobody knows about this rule, but it’s in the cap, it’s buried in there, it’s in the whole CBA. [Curry is] in the last year of his [contract]. [And the Warriors] could literally just give him a raise next year over spending the money on someone else.
Joe House: I’m going to tweet at Nate Duncan, I want some insider cap [information].
B.S.: Well, Larry Coon, we need Larry Coon to break it down. Hey, Larry Coon, break this down for us, ’cause this rule exists. Somebody swore to me that the Warriors don’t want anyone to know about it because then if Steph Curry finds out, he’ll be like, “I want to get paid!”
J.H.: Well, they should pay him. I mean for the love of God, he gave them a title, he gave them 73, you know …
B.S.: Don’t feel bad for these guys. Curry’s going to make what, $40 million off the court this year?
J.H.: I’m not talking about feeling bad or anything. I’m talking about getting paid what he’s due, and if there’s room under the cap and his employer can reward his excellent performance, then the employer should do so.
Postscript: The Vertical’s Bobby Marks tells The Ringer that Golden State could add only three years to Curry’s contract on top of the existing 2016–17 season (making it a four-year, $113 million deal), but that Curry would be much better off waiting for unrestricted free agency in 2017 when the cap will keep climbing (and he could sign a five-year extension for close to $190 million). You can read Bobby’s latest pieces here.
This piece originally appeared in the May 20, 2016, edition of the Ringer newsletter.