Warriors Have Clear Trade Casualty to Execute LeBron James Plan

The Golden State Warriors are all-in on signing LeBron James with the non-taxpayer mid-level exception of $15 million.

The plan has it drawbacks.

First, as the Warriors wait for James to make a decision, they could lose out on their other top free-agent targets. If he then chooses to sign elsewhere, their entire offseason plan could be ruined.

Second, even if the Warriors get James to agree to sign on the MLE, they will likely have to trade Moses Moody.

The 24-year-old wing was having the best season of his career in 2025-26 before suffering a torn patellar tendon. He's expected to miss at least half of the 2026-27 season, and it wouldn't be surprising if he misses the whole campaign.

Moody is under contract through 2027-28 at what was a bargain rate before the injury ($12.5 million in 2026-27, $13.4 million in 2027-28).

The Warriors surely don't want to trade him, but there are a couple reasons they pretty much have to if the James plan comes to fruition.

Warriors Need to Clear Some Money to Pay Draymond

What has made this James plan possible is Draymond Green's decision to opt out of his $27.7 million player option. Now the Warriors have enough cap room under the $209 million first apron to give James the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.

But the issue is they won't have enough room to pay Green a reasonable salary.

If they made no other corresponding moves, the most they could realistically pay Green is about $10 million for the 2026-27 season.

James might not agree to join the Warriors unless they take care of Green, his friend and fellow Klutch Sports signee.

That's where Moody's contract will come into play.

Moody Is the Highest-Paid Player Who Is Easy to Offload

There are other ways in which the Warriors could create more cap room to pay Green. For example, they could trade Jimmy Butler for a cheaper star to save some money. They could do the same with Kristaps Porzingis, who is immediately trade-eligible after signing his extension.

But nobody is looking to trade for Butler while he is injured, unless the Warriors attach high-value draft capital. And the market for Porzingis is probably not robust after all the injury and illness issues he's had over the last two seasons.

After Stephen Curry, Butler and Porzingis, the highest-paid Warrior is Moody.

It's likely that a team with cap space would take on Moody's $12.5 million contract.

Perhaps that team would ask the Warriors to take back a smaller contract, but even in that scenario, the Warriors would open up extra room.

And if that team takes on Moody without asking the Warriors to take on any salary, Green can be offered about $10 million more—it's not the full $12.5 million because Golden State would have to eventually fill the roster spot vacated by Moody with a veteran minimum contract that will likely cost about $2.5 million.

Moody Has Value, But He's Ultimately Expendable

It's fair to question whether losing Moody makes this plan too dangerous. James might only be on this team for one season. Green seems to be in the last 1-2 years of his career. In theory, Moody could sign a new contract after 2027-28 and be a Warrior for another decade.

It all comes down to how much the Warriors value Moody.

He's a legitimately good on-ball defender who takes and makes a high volume of threes. As role-playing three-and-D wings go, he's better than most.

But the ones that have some playmaking and iso-scoring abilities are often considered untouchable by their teams.

Moody is not one of those players. At least not yet.

Frankly, the Warriors need more on-ball defense. If Moody were healthy, they might look into other creative ways to afford James and Green.

But the fact that he's injured at the same time as Jimmy Butler makes it even more justified that they move him.

Having two players out for at least half of the season is risky, especially with the collective age of the rest of the roster.

Moody is also a Klutch client, but I suspect Rich Paul won't mind if Moody gets traded. It shouldn't affect his future earning prospects.

Potentially losing Moody is a legitimate downside to this James chase, but it would be worth it to inject real life into this franchise while Curry is still playing at a high level.

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