Stay or Go: Should Nets re-sign Seth Curry?

This offseason is set up to be a crucial one for the Nets, entering a new post-superstar era with lots of ill-fitting assets and a blank check to reshape the team as they please. One victim of the mid-season blow-up is Seth Curry, a perfectly competent role player for any contender that struggled to find footing on a roster suddenly filled with them.

Curry joined Brooklyn as part of the James Harden-Ben Simmons swap in 2021-22, in what the Nets hoped would be a corrective measure to get them back on track to contention. While Curry was the “throw-in” to Simmons’ star power, he ended up starting every game he suited up for and was the highest returning piece of the entire deal.

The sweet-shooting guard hit 46.8 percent of his threes in the regular season as a Net, scoring 15 points a night in 30 minutes of action. He was seemingly the franchise’s only answer against Boston’s cutthroat defense in the playoffs, in which he provided similar production on 52.2 percent shooting from deep.

He came into this season hurt, getting a late start but recording back-to-back 20-point nights a few games after his return. His role was limited as the Nets experimented with different options early on, but his contributions remained consistent.

Curry maintained his usual averages, including shooting 42.5 percent from three, before Brooklyn’s stars bailed. He was even earning back his minutes, averaging 26.6 in the new year.

Following the deals and another injury, Curry returned to an entirely new situation. The rotation as he knew it blew up, and sitting in his starting spot was future-of-the-franchise, Mikal Bridges.

His minutes were super inconsistent from there, jumping from the single digits to over 20 and back. It didn’t help that his team was now severely lacking in high-level creators that thrive next to Curry, causing his three-point shot to bottom out at an uncharacteristic 34.5 percent.

That issue carried over into the playoffs, where the Nets were once again dealt with quickly. Interestingly, Curry earned some of his highest-minute games in over a month in the postseason, making it odd he wasn’t in the picture more prior.

He’s now an unrestricted free agent this summer, free to sign wherever he pleases. Should the Nets try and retain him?

That will come down to what team Brooklyn plans on building. As a sound, veteran locker room presence and reliable shooter, Curry can positively impact a contending team or even one mid-rebuild.

However, he won’t want to return where his role is uncertain and his choice of lead distributor is between Bridges and Spencer Dinwiddie. Curry needs stuff set up for him to be a real threat, and can find that on a legitimate playoff team somewhere if the Nets can’t promise that.

Brooklyn just may not have that need. Joe Harris is still under contract for next season and can do the Curry role plus defend bigger guys.

If they trade Harris, there’s still a bit of a logjam if Bridges is forced to spend his time at the two guard with their assortment of forwards on the books. The Nets might end up trading half this roster, which could make re-signing Curry worth it, but it’s tough to project from here.