Steph Curry’s Play-In heroics boost Warriors’ trade pursuit of $149 million Clippers star

Steph Curry’s Play-In heroics boost Warriors’ trade pursuit of $149 million Clippers star originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors ended the Los Angeles Clippers' season on Wednesday night after notching a gritty 126-121 Play-In Tournament victory.

As a result, the 4-time NBA champion might have drastically improved the franchise's odds of landing a perfect complementary superstar talent for one more full-fledged title push in 2026-27.

Curry scored 35 points (27 in second half) on 7-for-12 shooting from three-point range to pull the Warriors back from multiple double-digit deficits to keep the Warriors' season alive, outclassing the Clippers' 2-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard in the process. The 34-year-old Leonard, an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2027, could be ready to move on from Los Angeles after concluding his sixth season with the organization.

Rumors of a blockbuster swap involving Leonard have begun to swirl with the Clippers' elimination from postseason contention, and FanSided's Maxwell Ogden believes that Golden State came away with a crucial Leonard-related victory Wednesday night.

"Though advancing in the Play-In Tournament is the primary topic of conversation, the Warriors quietly secured another victory: A clearer path to acquiring Kawhi Leonard," Ogden wrote Thursday morning.

"After the Clippers were knocked out of the Play-In Tournament, one can't help but feel as though the dream of acquiring Leonard is more realistic than ever before."