Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
2025 Free Agents - Seth Curry
As a career 44% 3-point shooter, Curry was truly an elite shooter during his prime. He was one of the more efficient players in the league in prior seasons, as he never finished below the 83rd percentile in eFG% for his position from 2015-2022, according to Cleaning the Glass. He was in the top-10 in the league in non-corner 3-point percentage in '21-'22. He never shot below 42% from three until '22-'23, where he still hit 40%. His efficiency has been dipping recently, and so have his minutes, as he only played about 12 minutes per game for the Mavs in '23-'24 before being traded to Charlotte, where he played a little more, but in games that didn't really matter. Although he doesn't have too much of an off-the-dribble game, as the vast majority of his buckets are assisted, he can attack hard closeouts and make plays in the lane. He has consistently converted well from floater range, and also has good midrange numbers, although he did struggle in that regard in '23-'24 on a small sample. Defensively, Curry is undersized for a wing at 6'2", and that can be difficult since he's not a point guard on offense. Ideally you'd play him next to a point guard with some size. It's also best if you have enough solid perimeter defenders that you can hide Curry on the least threatening perimeter option. Curry isn't a turnstyle though, and puts effort in on that end. I don't think he's a completely one-way player or someone that becomes a unplayable in the playoffs. Curry will be going into his age-35 season in '25-'26, and at this point it seems like his career is hanging by a thread. Now in his 30s, Capela does not have the same level of burst and explosiveness that he had in his prime. He only hit 61% at the rim in '23-'24, which was the lowest mark since his rookie season, and by far the lowest mark of the past eight seasons. It was also only in the 19th percentile among bigs, according to Cleaning the Glass. Defensively, Capela was pretty switchable in his prime. He was never an elite switch defender and someone you wanted on the perimeter much, but he could at least hold up well enough to feel comfortable defending out there late in the shot clock. That has regressed a bit as he has aged too, as he's not as quick laterally as he used to be. He still can protect the rim decently, and posts good block rates. He also rebounds really well on both ends of the court. Capela will be 31 years old as a free agent in 2025, so continued regression will likely be expected. He's probably a below-average starting center now, and could be looking at back-up roles very soon.
Summary
Curry will be an unrestricted free agent with a $2.3 million cap hold and Early Bird rights. The Hornets could offer Curry a starting salary of up to 5% more than the average salary (likely around $13.5 million) using the Early Bird exception, which should be more than enough should they wish to bring him back. Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Curry as even teams without cap space could use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, Taxpayer MLE, or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. It's also possible that he only gets minimum offers, and he may not even get fully-guaranteed offers.
Cap Considerations
Joe Ingles (1 year minimum, 2024) Eric Gordon (1+1 year minimum, 2024) Patty Mills (2 years, $14 million, 2022)