While Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors are having a record breaking year, another name has been turning heads throughout the league. It is never easy to make a name for yourself when your older brother is the reigning MVP, but 25-year-old Seth Curry is making his own claim for a long-term spot in the NBA with some recent career-high games. Apart from the headband, there has been a drastic change in Curry’s game, displaying a remarkable improvement in both his scoring and passing for the Sacramento Kings over the past month. Seth Curry has the option to test the free agent market in the summer and might have some Sacramento fans worried that he will choose to seek a bigger contract elsewhere.
Curry’s career-high 15 assists against the Phoenix Suns on April 12 has been one of many recent highlights for the Sacramento Kings. After taking over from Kyrie Irving and becoming a star in his own right at Duke, Curry went undrafted in 2013 and was denied season-long contracts with both the Grizzlies before eventually signing with the Kings in 2015. Curry also had two successful seasons in the D-League, where he averaged 21.9 points and was considered more of a scoring guard, despite averaging 5.8 assists in his first season with the Santa Cruz Warriors. The potential has always been there, but his recent form has certainly justified his contract with Sacramento and his future in the NBA.
Curry’s contract with the Kings contains a player option for the ’16-’17 season, in which he is owed just over $1 million, but he can opt out if he chooses. Until now this didn’t seem like it would become much of a problem for the franchise, but now that Curry has been given more time in the squad’s rotation he has started to show glimpses of soaring potential and future NBA success. This summer will see a record amount of cap space spent and there are sure to be a lot of teams watching the development of Seth Curry with some keen interest. It would be wise of Curry to test the free agency market, even as a restricted free agent as the Kings can then choose to match any deal he is offered.
Recently, Curry has been making a good case for a more serious contract. Over the past seven games, Seth Curry has seen a giant increase in his game time, averaging 31.2 minutes per game in the month of April. Sacramento head coach George Karl is notorious for limiting the minutes of his younger players. Indeed, Curry only averaged 10.1 minutes per game prior to the All-star break. But a recent change in heart from coach Karl has contributed to some tasty performances by Steph Curry’s kid brother. In the King’s loss to the Miami Heat at the beginning of April, Seth Curry managed a career-high 21 points, with another career-high of four made three-pointers in a game.
Curry has continued in that same vein of form, averaging 17.5 points, 5.3 assists and 2.5 rebounds during the month of April. He is also shooting an impressive 53.7% from the floor as well as shooting a staggering 57.1% from three-point land. Curry is making Sacramento look like a better team too, embracing a new role in place of injured players such as Marco Belinelli, Darren Collison and Rajon Rondo. Since playing as a starter in Karl’s rotation, going back to March 25, the Kings have won 6 and lost 5. Although Sacramento is no longer playing for anything significant, Curry has shown resilience and determination. After the game against Portland, Karl commented on Seth Curry’s potential in the NBA, arguing that he “has the chance to be a damn good shooter.”
But as well as his confidence in scoring, Curry has shown that he also has confidence in making plays for his teammates. His career-high game of 15 assists, which also marked his first professional double-double with 20 points, highlighted his potential viability as a dynamic combo-guard. Seth Curry has exhibited a tremendous drive to become a long-term NBA player and handles his business in a remarkably professional demeanor. As a player who gets to play and live with arguably the league’s best player in Stephen Curry, Seth has the ability to become a valuable asset to any team next season. Maybe DeMarcus Cousins summed it up best when he interrupted Curry’s post-game interview in Dallas to tell him “You’re going to be in this league a long time, boy, remember that.”
