Over the last few weeks, the Golden State Warriors have been talked about as one of the frontrunners to land LeBron James in free agency. In fact, they may have been as motivated, or even more motivated, than any other team to obtain the future Hall of Famer.
But in recent days, it seems as if their chances of landing James may have cooled off. Shams Charania of ESPN reported this week that, based on what he has heard, he sees the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers as the frontrunners for James.
Charania also told Stephen A. Smith that the Warriors may not be high on the list of James’ suitors for one particular reason.
“And I think the big draw for LeBron James with the Warriors would be, let’s see if there’s an avenue to be a package deal to the Warriors,” he said. “And so short of that, like, I don’t think the Warriors are up on that list. I think the Warriors believe they’re not up on that list unless they’re able to go package for Anthony Davis.”
Davis is someone whom the Warriors were rumored to be in pursuit of via trade. He was traded by the Dallas Mavericks to the Washington Wizards in February, and, of course, he helped James win his most recent NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.
But it is thought that the Wizards don’t have any real desire to trade him. Furthermore, Davis is owed $58.46 million this coming season, which would make any trade involving him complicated.
James is good friends with Warriors mainstays Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, but the team’s roster overall is top-heavy and long in the tooth. Just over a week into free agency, it seems that, to a certain extent, much of the league is in a holding pattern as James mulls over his options.
According to Rich Paul, James’ longtime agent and friend, as many as 12 teams have called him about the four-time MVP.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Charania: Warriors may not believe they’re frontrunners for LeBron
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire | USA TODAY Network
