LeBron James Spurns Warriors, Forcing Dubs into Free-Agency Plan B

The Golden State Warriors have waited weeks for LeBron James to decide what he will do in free agency.

They got the official news on Friday that James is signing with the Philadelphia 76ers.

It's a two-year, $8 million deal with a player option for the second season. That means James signed for the veteran-minimum rate.

The Warriors have yet to use their mid-level exception, but in waiting this long, there might not be a single player they can realistically get who deserves more than the MLE.

The Warriors' Plan B is much worse than the James Plan A, but they do have a few options remaining that can help them this season.

Bring Draymond Back on Reduced Contract

The first order of business is to get Draymond Green back under contract.

I argued here that the perfect contract would be a three-year, $42 million deal.

The pros of that contract is it would keep the Warriors under the first apron going into the season and also give them more cap flexibility for the 2027-28 season.

The con of that contract is that Green might decline to the point that he's not worth rostering in 2028-29.

The other contract options are below:

- A one-year deal worth close to the $27.7 million player option Green declined
- A two-year deal worth somewhere between $30 million and $40 million

Both would put the Warriors above the first apron this season and make Green overpaid.

It's not clear what the Dubs will do, but they need Green back. He's the best player available on the free-agent market they can realistically get.

Fill Out Rest of Roster with Veteran Minimums

I'm not super high on DeMar DeRozan, but if the Warriors can get him for the veteran minimum, they would be justified doing so.

Otherwise, I expect them to use their last few roster spots on internal options.

They can give Gary Payton II another one-year, veteran-minimum deal.

Next, they can give LJ Cryer a standard contract, opening up one of their two-way roster spots.

After that, they can use two of their three two-way roster spots on Lajae Jones and Graham Ike, leaving the last one for Malevy Leons, Deivon Smith or a summer-league standout who doesn't get a contract with the team he played for.

I realize this would mean the Warriors are essentially running it back, except with Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody injured. So there has to be one more huge piece to this plan.

Make In-Season Trade

Even if Butler comes back as good as ever, the Warriors don't have a good enough roster for title contention.

They have to make an in-season trade.

They will have several mid-sized salaries to build a trade, including those of Kristaps Porzingis, Moses Moody and Green.

Perhaps using Porzingis' salary would be the ideal money-matcher for a big trade.

Regardless of who they include in the trade, the best part of their package will be the first-round draft capital.

The Warriors have to make a trade—and finally be willing to give up valuable draft capital—or else they will have another disappointing season.

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