Former Golden State Warriors general manager Larry Riley categorically denied a rumor of a trade that never came to fruition. Ethan Strauss of The Athletic noted in his new book, “The Victory Machine: The Making and Unmaking of the Warriors Dynasty,” how a package of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson almost netted them Chris Paul in 2011.
Riley, who was succeeded by apprentice Bob Myers the following year, claimed those trade talks “never took place” and that Curry and Thompson were never on the table in a Warriors package for anybody:
“First off, that's false,” said Riley as a guest of Joe, Lo & Dibs of 95.7 The Game. “That never took place … I never had a conversation with anybody about packaging our two guards to do something else. Steph Curry came to the Warriors and he won himself over as a Warrior for life if he wanted to be. At the second half of his rookie season he established the fact: this is our point guard for the next 10 years. And while there was a lot of discussion about the possibilities of trading him, it was never a reality and we never had a discussion about trading Klay Thompson and Steph Curry for anybody else.”
“I can tell you right now, that never happened.”
Former #Warriors GM Larry Riley shoots down the Curry/Klay for CP3 trade report pic.twitter.com/E3KVrPrhL4
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) April 17, 2020
The former Warriors GM wasn't done clarifying just yet, wondering where the information came from and if Strauss might have had his years mixed up:
“It would be very interesting because the author of this piece without a doubt talked to somebody who gave him this information,” said Riley. “So it would be a little bit interesting to track that, but I can tell you right now that never happened.
“Now I supposed it might have happened after I left and there could have been a discussion with Bob Myers, but you're telling me this was 2011 and that is not the case then.”
Why is this important? Riley was the brains of the operation behind drafting Curry (2009) and Thompson (2011). He clearly saw potential in them and wanted to keep them around.
Myers was promoted to general manager during the 2011-12 season as Riley was moved to a director of scouting position. That was the season in which Curry suffered a slew of ankle-related injuries, cutting his season short to only 26 games.
These chronic ankle issues worried the Warriors, and that's when the team might have darted a potential trade. Riley is washing his hands, Pontius Pilate style, and saying that if these trade talks took place, they didn't happen during his reign.
The answers might not be there in full until Myers speaks on the matter, but considering that he's now the president of basketball operations, he might just have to save face whenever he's asked.
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