Steph: Warriors 'want this ride to last as long as possible'

The Golden State Warriors' 2024-25 campaign ended Wednesday, but Stephen Curry is already looking toward next season.

"Our contracts - me, Draymond (Green), Steve (Kerr), Jimmy (Butler) - are all two years (more)," Curry said, according to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk. "And we want this ride to last as long as possible. But it's just about what does this team need for next year, answering those questions over the summer, everybody preparing themselves individually to get through another 82-game season, hopefully with a little bit more of a comfort room down the stretch where we don't have to have a two-month gauntlet just to make the playoffs.

"I'm excited about it because there's clarity (to the top of the roster), although there are a lot of decisions that need to be made over the summer."

A number of Golden State players are expected to enter free agency this offseason, and the team will reportedly look to sign-and-trade Jonathan Kuminga. The 22-year-old fell out of the rotation after the team acquired Butler.

However, Butler's arrival seemed to be the turning point of Golden State's season. The Warriors were 25-26 prior to his debut and went 23-8 after Butler entered the lineup.

"The biggest change that needed to be made was we needed someone like Jimmy Butler," Green said of the Warriors' offseason needs. "And we made that change. I think the hardest part is done. ... It puts us in a much better situation going into this offseason than last year where we were kind of looking for that."

Butler said he'd rediscovered his joy playing for the Warriors following his messy departure from the Miami Heat.

"To come here and know that I'm second to Steph, I think that's a really good thing, actually, when you talk about one of the greatest players ever to play this game," Butler said. "I get to come here and be his sidekick for a couple more years hopefully. It's just refreshing. Then you've got some really high-level young talent that want to do well, that want to be great, and then the energy is at an all-time high. I don't think there's too much more that you can ask for."

Curry described Butler as a "seamless fit" and said he's excited for a full season together.

"You look at the sample size the last two months and even the Houston (first-round) series when we had our mind focused on a goal, we had enough to accomplish it and get to a point where we were playing pretty high-level basketball," Curry said. "Does that mean we can win a championship? We hope so."

Curry was forced to miss the Warriors' final four games of the season due to a Grade 1 left hamstring strain. Golden State lost all four of those contests, falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games in their second-round series.

"We'll imagine and believe that we could have won everything had we been healthy," Curry said. "But you move on."