Despite their desire to get younger and have more availability from their roster, the Golden State Warriors aren't likely to pass up the opportunity of pursuing LeBron James as a free agent this offseason.
However, the LeBron pursuit also creates a dilemma with his son Bronny James, and whether the Warriors would also need to trade for the 21-year-old if they manage to land his legendary father.
Warriors face Bronny James dilemma in LeBron free agency pursuit
The James camp would surely need father and son to remain together for what will likely be the final year of LeBron's career. Things do get a little complicated though because Bronny is still under contract with the Lakers, meaning Golden State or whoever signs LeBron will have to execute a trade.
Given Bronny is only set to make $2.3 million on the third year of his rookie contract, that shouldn't prove too difficult. What may be more concerning for the Warriors is utilizing a roster spot on a young player who, while he did take some strides in year two, is not yet a bonafide NBA rotation player.
Every roster spot should not only mean more to Golden State because of the aging nature of their squad, but more importantly because they're going to start next season with both Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody on the sidelines.
That means the Warriors will only have a maximum of 13 available main roster players entering the season, and two of them could be used on a nearly 42-year-old and his son who's far from guaranteed of having a long-term NBA future.
While having LeBron and Bronny on the Warriors would make for incredibly compelling viewing and likely make them the most watched team in basketball, the front office does have to ask itself whether it would really be the best recipe for success.
Bronny James is still trying to solidify himself in the league
Bronny did see some improvements from year one to year two, but the reality is this a young player who appeared in just 42 games and averaged less than nine minutes this season. The 6'2" guard is still trying to cement himself as an NBA player, having been taken 55th overall by the Lakers two years ago.
The impact of acquiring the James duo could be significant on some beloved players. For example, could you imagine Golden State having to tell Gary Payton II that they have to move on from him because they're acquiring another 6'2" guard who, with all due respect, is a worse basketball player? That's a tough but genuinely foreseeable scenario.
Perhaps the Warriors decide that acquiring LeBron is worth the cost of also trading for and utilizing a roster spot on Bronny, but nonetheless it's something to very much deliberate over as free agency draws nearer.
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