Warriors Wing Hasn't Heard from Team Amid Trade Rumors

The Golden State Warriors continue to be in the LeBron James sweepstakes, and I'm among many who have speculated that they will need to create more cap room with a trade to make their James plan work financially.

I wrote here that Moses Moody is the most likely trade casualty to execute the James plan. If the Warriors can trade him into another team's trade exception and get nothing back in return, they'd have the funds to give James the non-taxpayer mid-level exception and re-sign Draymond Green to a reasonable contract.

It stands to reason that the Warriors would reach out to Moody if they felt that the trade speculation was inaccurate, but that hasn't happened.

The Athletic's Marcus Thompson II asked Moody if he's heard from the team, and he said he hasn't.

That doesn't necessarily mean they will trade him if they land James, but there is reason to believe they would.

Moody Might Be Only Way to Make the LeBron Move Work

If James wants to join the Warriors for a veteran minimum contract, then keeping Moody would be just about guaranteed.

But if James wants the $15 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception, the Warriors will have to make some type of corresponding move.

The least likely scenario is to renounce Draymond Green's cap hold and likely lose him in free agency. If James joins the Warriors, you'd have to believe he'd want Green to remain as well. And maybe more importantly, Rich Paul, the agent of James and Green, wouldn't want Green to end up having to take a veteran minimum contract.

Another possible scenario is trading Kristaps Porzingis' $20 million salary. My guess is there isn't much trade interest in the 30-year-old center considering a) he's more expensive than Moody ($12.5 million) and b) he wouldn't fit the timeline of a rebuilding team.

Moody will likely miss most of the 2026-27 season with a patellar tendon tear, but when he returns, he could be quite an asset as a 24-year-old three-and-D wing under contract through the 2027-28 season.

Moody Likely to Be Back If Dubs Miss on James

One could argue that the Warriors should trade Moody or Jimmy Butler no matter what happens with James because it will be challenging to have both players out for at least half of the 2026-27 season.

Every team gets a maximum of 15 standard contract roster spots, and the Warriors are guaranteed to go into next season using at least two of them on injured players unless they make a trade.

With that said, Butler is essentially valueless to most teams due to his age (36) and torn ACL, so trading him for anything valuable will require the Warriors to give up first-round draft capital. The Warriors don't seem willing to do that.

With Moody, the Warriors can probably trade him without having to attach draft capital, but if they are getting something valuable back, they probably would have to attach first-round draft capital.

To land James, you could argue it's worth it to trade Moody. But there are few other scenarios in which selling low on Moody makes sense.

Add us as a preferred source on Google