The Golden State Warriors pursuit of LeBron James has been well reported at this point, but the rumors picked up steam on Wednesday morning when ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Dubs forward Draymond Green had declined his player option. Green was expected to accept his option unless the Warriors needed to create more payroll flexibility this offseason to upgrade the roster. Given Green’s close relationship with James (and shared agent Rich Paul), the connection was obvious. However, Charania added
another layer in his reporting today, adding that the Dubs are planning a trade pursuit of James’ former teammate (and another Paul client) Anthony Davis as well.
“The Golden State Warriors are planning a pursuit of LeBron James in free agency and Anthony Davis via trade this week, league sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania, opening up the flexibility for such a possibility after Draymond Green declined his $27.6 million player option Monday morning,” ESPN’s Anthony Slater wrote.
Steph Curry was expected to meet with LeBron earlier this month to try and sell him on teaming up in Golden State. While nothing has been decided (as far as we know), clearly the door has not been closed. The Warriors can offer James the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception (just over $15 million a year), and could make it a two-year agreement with a player option in the second year. It’s worth noting that the expectation is that Green is opting out to allow the Warriors to sign LeBron before re-signing. While no rumors have suggested this, a sign-and-trade of James for Green would also make some basketball sense and would give the Warriors a path to paying James in the $25-35 million per season range, though it’s not clear if the Los Angeles Lakers would have any interest in that.
Davis has been a trade target of the Warriors for years, and that history fueled immediate speculation about a trade when Jimmy Butler III tore his ACL in January. Butler and Davis have comparable contracts that could be moved in a one-for-one swap. The Warriors opted against an aggressive Davis pursuit at the deadline. Instead, the Dallas Mavericks traded him to the Washington Wizards in a deal that was primarily a salary dump. Now, the Wizards could try to recoup better draft capital than it cost them to acquire Davis (two highly-protected future first-round picks).
The Warriors, who would likely have to attach at least one unprotected first-round pick with Butler in any Davis trade, could use the acquisition of the 10-time All-Star to sell LeBron on joining Golden State. The Dubs would head into next season with a presumptive starting lineup of Curry, Brandin Podziemski, James, Green, and Davis.
While the roster would have massive questions about age and injury-risk, they could also gain access to the bi-annual exception (about $5.4 million per season) to further solidify the bench if Green re-signed on a multi-year deal with a 2026-27 cap hit south of $22 million. They would also conceivably become a prime landing spot for other role players who may be willing to take less money to play with LeBron, Steph, and Davis.
