LeBron James is going to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer, and the odds of him returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers seemingly get worse by the day. His priority is winning as many championships as possible before he retires, but would LeBron be open to joining his biggest rival just to make that happen?
ESPN’s Chris Haynes reports that James would be open to meeting with the Golden State Warriors in free agency if they can clear enough salary to create another max contract slot. There has been no indication that Golden State wants to sign LeBron, but sources told Haynes James would listen to their pitch “out of respect for the Warriors’ winning culture.”
LeBron has a $35.6 million player option with the Cavaliers for next season, and he is expected to decline it. In addition to the Cavs struggling to build chemistry this season and the Isaiah Thomas-Kyrie Irving trade looking like a disaster, LeBron’s relationship with team owner Dan Gilbert once again appears to be in a bad place. As Haynes notes, James and his business team are looking for strong organizational structure, and the Cavs and Warriors are heading in different directions on that front.
According to ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, a sign-and-trade would be the most realistic way for the Warriors to acquire James. They could match salary by packaging Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson, though it’s unclear what else the Cavs might want in terms of draft pick compensation. That scenario would also require Kevin Durant to decline his player option and take even less than the $25 million salary he is currently playing for, which seems unlikely.
The Western Conference is still a lot stronger than the East, and that is one reason LeBron’s next destination is a complete mystery. It’s hard enough beating the Warriors in the NBA Finals, let alone having to go through them one series before that. We know one rebuilding team in the West is going to make a major push for LeBron, but it’s unrealistic to think that team can de-throne Golden State.
