Following LeBron James’ announcement that he will be joining the 76ers, Rich Paul, his agent, confirmed that despite the shortlist being among four teams, it essentially boiled down to choosing between the 76ers and the Warriors.
Therefore, it can be said that at one point, there was a 50% chance that James could team up with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. And while the appeal for the 76ers was clear, the reason why LeBron James snubbed the Warriors remained a common question.
Subsequently, Anthony Slater, ESPN’s senior NBA writer for the Warriors, dove into why LeBron James did not choose Golden State on their show ‘NBA Today.’
“It wasn’t Stephen Curry’s fault. He was the lure there, like if it were to happen it would have been because Steph Curry drew LeBron James there. But LeBron in his own statement said it was about winning,” Slater said.
“So I think there were some impediments in doing that with the Warriors here. Number 1, they’re in the West; the Thunder and Spurs are out there, so I understand LeBron thought this was a tougher path. And look at the roster now, you have about $70 million in rehabbing players: Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody.”
“And the Warriors didn’t make any trade; they had the draft picks and the flexibility where they could have theoretically gone after Jaylen Brown as the Sixers did. Or even Kawhi, Giannis; they didn’t get heavily into any of those conversations. And simply because of that, they don’t have LeBron James.”
This certainly goes to show that had the Warriors gone all in on Anthony Davis, they may have had a better chance to land LeBron James, despite Rich Paul initially claiming otherwise.
Ramona Shelburne further added that the Warriors’ brass had been after LeBron James not just this season but for the past three seasons. They tried to land him in a trade in 2024, then tried in free agency once again before he took a two-year deal with the Lakers.
So after a point, even Golden State’s brass got the message that if anyone can bring him there, it’s Steph Curry, but unfortunately, even that did not happen.
What Does This Mean For The Warriors?
According to Monte Poole of NBCS, the Warriors are now planning to try to improve their roster through a trade. Moreover, Draymond Green will also likely re-sign with the team on a similar deal to the one he was promised in the player option.
But the biggest red flag for the Warriors here is that this essentially means their window to maximize on Stephen Curry’s final years is rapidly closing. They are reportedly expected to prioritize their long-term future over making any win-now moves this season.
Hence, we anticipate minimal trade activity as they look to first fill their final four roster spots with Draymond Green and three other players. With $70 million of their cap space stuck in two injured players who will likely spend this entire season rehabbing, I do not have very high hopes of any major offseason activity from the Warriors this summer.
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