The Golden State Warriors well-known pursuit of LeBron James has only heated up on Monday morning with a report by Shams Charania that Dubs star Draymond Green is opting out of his contract to give the team more flexibility to pursue James and his former teammate Anthony Davis this offseason. While the Warriors have been a rumored landing spot for awhile, the confirmation that Green is opting out has made it seem far more likely. Perhaps in response to that pressure, the Los Angeles Lakers are planning
to talk with James about his future for the first time this offseason, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
“LeBron James and Los Angeles Lakers still have yet to have a conversation regarding his future but that’s expected to change in light of Golden State Warriors’ strategic maneuvering to position themselves as a landing spot, sources tell me,” Haynes wrote.
Prior to the Warriors emergence as a clear pursuer of James, the Lakers seemed to have all the leverage in negotiations. Without much open cap space around the league, and a limited pool of teams James would want to play for, it seemed like there only competition could only offer James the roughly $15 million per season of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. There are no clear suitors that would seem to appeal to James’ desire to be on a playoff team, be close to his family in Southern California, and get paid as much as possible.
Since the Lakers held James’ bird rights, they were in position to see what they could do this offseason via free agency and then beat all other offers but offer LeBron whatever accommodated their other moves. With the Warriors emerging as legitimate suitors, however, James may now have more leverage to force the Lakers to commit to a salary before they have figured out the rest of their roster. Or maybe it’s already too late and LeBron James will be a Golden State Warrior.
