Warriors' Major Free-Agent Target Signs with 76ers During LeBron Wait

The Golden State Warriors' choice to wait on LeBron James' free-agency decision has cost them a shot at Anfernee Simons.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported that Simons and the 76ers agreed to a two-year, $12.3 million contract with a player option in the second season.

The Warriors would have had to use part of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception or essentially the full taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Simons.

ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel reported that the Dubs were offering Simons a minimum contract, but they were unwilling to offer more while waiting on James.

The Warriors were rumored to be interested in Simons and Collin Sexton for more than a month. They also lost out on Sexton, who signed with the Lakers.

Retaining Melton Lessens the Blow of Losing Out on Simons

De'Anthony Melton and Simons are very different players, so it still stings a bit that the Warriors didn't land Simons.

But from a guard depth perspective, Melton is a great piece.

Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski and Melton will be the three highest-minute guards. They can get by without Simons (or a scoring guard of his caliber to back up Curry) when they are getting scoring and playmaking from a forward like Jimmy Butler or LeBron.

If the Warriors miss out on LeBron too, they will be missing offensive punch until Butler returns from his knee injury.

But that's the risk they are willing to take to potentially get LeBron on, at most, a $15 million contract.

76ers Have Less Money Left for James Chase

It's likely that Simons will take what was left of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. By giving that contract to Simons, the 76ers now can't give it to James.

It appears that the 76ers' best James offer will be a minimum contract worth $3.9 million.

In contrast, the Warriors still have access to their full non-taxpayer mid-level exception worth $15 million.

To afford James at that price and give Green a decent salary after he declined his $27.7 million player option, the Warriors will have to clear some cap, and the most likely way to do that is trading Moses Moody, as I explained here.

It's possible James takes a minimum contract, so the 76ers might still be in the LeBron sweepstakes.

But as I wrote here, his options are dwindling if he wants more than the taxpayer mid-level exception worth $6.1 million.

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