I had discussed this with curators a while ago. Most agreed that 48 hours is enough time for them to find and curate posts, so I'd be in favour of that. 24 hours is better than 7 days too, though some "sleeper hits" content will be missed. Ultimately, I'd rather the focus be on removing the common reward pool entirely, so we don't need to waste time on these. SMTs can experiment with their own payout times if so inclined.
RE: (Very) Basic stuff Steem needs to fix: my personal list