The Golden State Warriors are preparing a blockbuster two-part move for LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
For the past week reports have suggested the Warriors were planning to be conservative -- bring back their own free agents, including signing Kristaps Porzingis and have Green opt into his $27.6 million player option.
But Green's decision to opt out of his contract on Monday, as first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania, has lifted the lid on Golden State's real free agency plans. They want to sign James and reportedly plan on luring the superstar forward by also trading for Davis, his former Los Angeles Lakers teammate with whom he won a championship with in 2020.
Draymond Green domino blows open Warriors' secret free agency plans
The real signal in all of this is that Green, James and Davis are managed by the same agent -- Rich Paul. That's exactly why Green's decision on Monday is seen as the first domino to the Warriors completing this shock double play that would form a quartet of James, Davis, Green and superstar guard Stephen Curry.
Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor first reported Golden State's plans on Sunday night, but that's now developed into more wide-spread focus including from ESPN's Shams Charania who states James and Davis come as a package deal.
"(Anthony Davis) and LeBron James would have to be a package deal in order to come to Golden State and team up with Green and Steph Curry," Charania said on Monday. "AD would require a trade of Jimmy Butler and draft capital."
The math is now rather simple. Green opting out gives the Warriors the financial wiggle room to open up the $15.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception to offer James, while as Charania outlines, a trade for Davis would have to include Butler and draft assets.
Reporting for @SportsCenter on the Warriors ramifications after Draymond Green's surprising opt-out: pic.twitter.com/JWBYuAqGBq
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 29, 2026
Warriors have been clever with their media manipulation over past week
Perhaps this is just something that's really developed in the past 24-48 hours, but these things don't happen by accident and it's likely something that's been brewing for a number of days or even weeks.
Looking back it's hard not to see how the Warriors have tried to throw everyone off this possibility. This is purely speculation, but you could understand why they'd leak that Green was opting in and that they were close to signing Porzingis to an extension. More notably, they had Butler be the face of their event announcing IREN as a new major partner, suggesting his future at the franchise was secure.
Perhaps this is all just coincidence, yet their real interest in acquiring James and Davis puts these events into perspective. The Warriors wanted to keep this a secret for as long as possible, but Monday's deadline on Green's player option meant it couldn't stay hidden any longer.
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