Report: Warriors Plan to Trade for 10-Time All-Star After Signing LeBron

It's been widely reported that the Golden State Warriors are attempting to sign LeBron James this free agency, but they reportedly have even bigger plans.

Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor reported that the Warriors want to trade for Wizards center Anthony Davis after signing James with the mid-level exception.

To acquire Davis, the Warriors would almost certainly have to trade Jimmy Butler for money-matching purposes.

O'Connor made it clear that the Warriors would trade for Davis first to try to convince James to sign with them. James and Davis spent 5.5 seasons together with the Lakers, resulting in one championship.

What a Davis-for-Butler Trade Would Look Like

As I wrote here, the Wizards don't seem committed to Davis for the long term, so it probably wouldn't cost much more than Butler to acquire him.

My proposal is Butler and a top-11-protected 2027 first-round pick for Davis.

That 2027 first would be enough incentive to give Davis up for a player who could miss most of the 2026-27 season and then sign elsewhere in 2027 free agency.

With Davis' injury history, expensive contract and desire for a massive extension that would go into his late 30s, the Warriors should not give up more than one protected first-round pick for him.

What Golden State's Roster Would Look Like After the 2 Moves

Here is a projected depth chart for the Warriors after the two big moves.

PG: Stephen Curry
SG: Brandin Podziemski, Will Richard
SF: LeBron James, Gui Santos, Moses Moody (injured)
PF: Draymond Green, Yaxel Lendeborg
C: Anthony Davis, Al Horford

It's not clear if the Warriors would be able to afford Kristaps Porzingis after signing James, and perhaps they wouldn't want to sign him anyway considering Davis would start and play center.

Golden State would need to find a bargain-bin backup point guard, but otherwise the depth chart looks pretty good.

The Warriors' two biggest issues would be point-of-attack defense and three-point shooting (outside of Curry). Perhaps those weaknesses would be their undoing, but there's little doubt that this roster would make the playoffs as long as the stars are healthy for most of the season.

Green's Contract Deadline Could Tip What Will Happen

I continue to believe James will choose to stay with the Lakers. But the fact that Jake Fischer said "people believe it's more likely than not" that he leaves the Lakers might give the Warriors a chance.

Draymond Green's Monday option-decision deadline could tell us how serious the Warriors' James pursuit is.

As I argued here, if Green opts in to his $27.7 million player option on Monday, that could signal that the Warriors don't think they have a shot at James.

But if he pushes the deadline back or opts out to sign a multiyear contract with a smaller 2026-27 salary, then you'd have to believe Golden State has a chance to sign James with the non-taxpayer mid-level exception of $15 million.

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