What Warriors Roster Would Look Like If Curry, Green Successfully Recruit LeBron

The Golden State Warriors tried to acquire LeBron James at the 2024 trade deadline.

They reportedly aren't done trying to bring him to the Bay.

Ashish Mathur of Lakers Daily reported that Stephen Curry and Draymond Green will "heavily recruit" James once free agency starts.

James and the Lakers appear headed for a split. James will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and the Lakers can have about $50 million in cap space if they renounce James' cap hold. They can use that money to build players who fit better around Luka Doncic.

The Warriors could have access to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception expected to be worth $15.1 million. They won't have a way to sign him to a bigger contract, but most other teams won't either.

What Warriors Could Look Like with James Signing

If James signs for the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, the Warriors would be hard-capped at the first apron. That means they would not be able to exceed $210.7 million in total salary commitments.

If you include just James and the players with guaranteed contracts next season, here is what the salary sheet looks like:

Stephen Curry: $62.6 million
Jimmy Butler: $56.8 million
LeBron James: $15.1 million
Moses Moody: $13 million
Brandin Podziemski: $5.7 million
Gui Santos: $4.6 million
2026 1st-Round Pick: $4 million
Will Richard: $2.2 million

The Warriors would have $164 million committed to eight players, but this doesn't include Draymond Green. If he opted in to his $27.7 million player option, the Warriors would have $191.7 million committed to nine players, meaning they'd need to fill five spots with $19 million.

That's not impossible, but it does make it difficult to keep Al Horford (player option), Quinten Post (RFA) and Kristaps Porzingis (UFA).

The Warriors will likely ask Green to decline his option with the hope he'll sign a two-year deal that would give him more money overall but less money in 2026-27. If he does that, here is what the salary sheet could look like:

Stephen Curry: $62.6 million
Jimmy Butler: $56.8 million
Draymond Green: $18 million
LeBron James: $15.1 million
Moses Moody: $13 million
Al Horford: $6.0 million
Brandin Podziemski: $5.7 million
Gui Santos: $4.6 million
2026 1st-Round Pick: $4 million
Quinten Post: $3.3 million
Will Richard: $2.2 million
Porzingis or veteran minimum
Veteran minimum
Veteran minimum

The Warriors would have 11 players at $191.3 million before choosing how much to offer Porzingis. They could let him go for nothing and sign three players to veteran minimum contracts to give themselves some flexibility to take back more money than they take in a trade. Or they could bring Porzingis back at a salary of about $10 million and fill out the rest of the roster with veteran minimums.

Note that I'm not including De'Anthony Melton in this roster projection. He has a player option for $3.5 million that he should decline. If he does, the Warriors would have no way to keep him. He'll be looking for a big chunk of a team's non-taxpayer mid-level exception, and in this projection, Golden State is giving it to James.

It's not clear if Al Horford will want to play another season, but if he does, the Warriors would be thrilled. The 39-year-old would be worth every bit of his $6.0 million player option.