And the Warriors’ winning streak continues. Despite them missing multiple players due to injury, Stephen Curry and Co. blew out the Lakers tonight. But surprisingly, Steph was not the star of the show and has not been for the first five games. Instead, it is Moses Moody who has turned into a scoring machine this preseason and kept his team’s winning streak alive. Moreover, his recent performance might have put an end to all the trade rumors as Steve Kerr made a bold admission about the young guard after tonight’s win.

Addressing Moody’s form so far, Kerr said, “He’s playing great. He’s gotten so much better in so many ways. We’ve always loved his character, his work ethic. This is the most confidence I think he’s played with and he’s going to play a big role for us.” Sure enough, Moody scored a team high 21 points tonight and even drained five of his seven three-point attempts.

In his previous four appearances, Moody had three double-digit scoring games, amassing a total of 79 points in the preseason so far. If the head coach sees him playing a significant role this season after such an impressive showing, it’s highly likely that the Warriors don’t plan on parting ways with him anytime soon. With his current deal set to expire next summer, Moody is also eligible for an extension.

However, the Warriors have been reluctant to offer Moody a rookie max contract, while his fellow draft class member Franz Wagner has already secured a massive deal in Orlando. If both parties don’t reach an agreement by the October 21 deadline, Moody will enter restricted free agency next year. This has sparked rumors of a possible trade. However, Kerr’s latest comments suggest otherwise.

Moses Moody worked on his game all summer and left Contract Extension worries up to his agent

Although Moody seems to have taken a huge leap from last season, his preseason dominance is not a fluke. During Media Day, the shooting guard revealed that he has worked hard on improving his skills all summer, “I worked on a lot ball handling stuff, some shooting stuff, defensive stuff. Things that I’ve watched a lot of film, things I need to work on improve on. I feel like it was a really good summer for me.” As expected, his hard work is paying off as he has shot brilliantly from the field so far and even been solid on defense.

When asked if he thinks he is ready to take the next step in his career, Moody said, “I do. I do. Especially stemming from this summer and the work that I’ve put in.” And he even revealed the minute details that will help him elevate his game, “Really just like the basic mechanics of starting and stopping. Like knowing how to take off in the most efficient way, knowing how to stop in an efficient way, changing directions and making decisions.” However, he skilfully dodged the question about his pending contract extension, “You know a lot of that just leave up to my agent. You know let him do all that.”

So, we will have to wait and see what the future holds for Moody as Kerr puts immense trust in the 22-year-old star.