There’s been growing optimism surrounding the Golden State Warriors’ chances of signing LeBron James in recent days, but another twist in the free agency rollercoaster has brought another more pessimistic update.
According to ESPN’s Marc J. Spears on Wednesday, the Warriors are still expecting James to ultimately return to the Cleveland Cavaliers or another team in the Eastern Conference.
Warriors not expecting to sign LeBron according to latest report
There’s been countless opinion, rumors and speculation over the past two weeks on Golden State’s ability to land their long-time rival and pair him with fellow veteran superstar Stephen Curry to make one of the most historic duos of all-time.
The Warriors were initially favorites for 24 hours after James’ departure from the Los Angeles Lakers at the start of free agency, but that was quickly replaced by a surge in the possibility of a reunion with the Cavaliers.
Golden State have re-emerged in the picture over recent days, largely because of confirmed discussions between James and the veteran pair of Curry and Draymond Green, but Spears’ update deals a blow to renewed hope among fans.
"I'm kind of hearing today that the Warriors internally kind of feel like they're a dark horse at this point, that LeBron James is probably going out east," Spears said.
The Warriors still being viewed as a “dark horse” means not all hope is lost, and the reality is that we still don’t know when exactly James will make his decision, let alone where he actually heads ahead of a 24th NBA season.
Warriors might be trying to lower LeBron expectations
This may also be a framing situation where even if Golden State actually had some internal confidence of signing James, which was suggested through Mike Dunleavy Jr’s obvious smirk in an interview on Wednesday, they want to lower expectations among fans in order to not elicit disappointment if he signs elsewhere.
At this stage that’s difficult to accomplish. The James’ saga has been such a rollercoaster that fans of any of the leading suitors (Cleveland, Golden State, Miami, Philadelphia and Denver) are going to be disappointed if their team can't land the four-time MVP.
Disappointment among Warrior fans wouldn’t just stem from the 41-year-old signing elsewhere, but the apparent lack of quality backup plans suggests it will be widely regarded as a poor offseason for the franchise if they can't acquire James, leaving their fate hanging on his decision.
Add us as a preferred source on Google