Draymond Gives Honest Take on Whether Steph Curry Should Return This Season

After the Golden State Warriors' 109-106 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday, Draymond Green was asked about Stephen Curry's 23-game absence with runner's knee.

"Where you get a little worried is, you know he wants to come back," Green said. "... If not now, what's going on?"

He was then asked if he thinks Curry should return this season.

"It's a slippery slope telling a guy who loves basketball he can't come back and play basketball when they feel like they are healthy enough," Green said. "If there's an inkling of a doubt with his knee, no, I don't. But if he's healthy and he can play, absolutely."

The Warriors (35-38) clinched a spot in the play-in tournament on Wednesday, but they will have a hard time moving up from 10th to ninth or eighth. They trail the Clippers (37-36) by two games and the Trail Blazers (37-37) by 1.5 games.

Six of their final nine games are against teams with winning records.

If they finish 10th, they'll have to win two road games in the play-in tournament to advance to playoffs.

Getting Curry back on the court would improve their chances of catching the Clippers or Blazers. The Warriors are 23-16 when Curry plays and 12-22 when he doesn't.

But there's no sense in rushing his return. The last thing the Warriors need is a long-term injury after losing Jimmy Butler to a torn ACL and Moses Moody to a torn patellar tendon.

Steph Update

On Thursday, Steve Kerr gave a reporters a no-update update on Curry.

"He's spending a lot of time with Rick [Celebrini]," Kerr said. "So, I'm on the court, and Steph's in the training room with Rick. I can't tell you much more than that."

Kerr added that there will be an update on Curry's progress on Friday.

Curry has yet to scrimmage five-on-five with the team. The Warriors require their players to do that before they can return from a lengthy absence.

That suggests Curry will not play against the Wizards on Friday.

The rest of Golden State's schedule is listed below:

3/27 vs. Washington
3/29 @ Denver
4/1 vs. San Antonio
4/2 vs. Cleveland
4/5 vs. Houston
4/7 vs. Sacramento
4/9 vs. Lakers
4/10 @ Sacramento
4/12 @ Clippers

Your guess is as good as mine regarding when/if Curry will return.