Warriors have LeBron James trade problem rivals can easily exploit

The consistent reporting from ESPN's Shams Charania over the past two weeks has been the Golden State Warriors' need to pull off a blockbuster trade in order to lure LeBron James into signing as a free agent.

That messaging has maintained amid the continued James wait on Thursday, but it creates an obvious problem for the Warriors where rival teams can easily exploit their strong desire to land James in free agency.

Rivals can easily exploit Warriors need to execute major trade

Speaking Thursday on the Pat McAfee Show, Charania again reiterated that Golden State are seemingly behind the leading suitors for James because of their inability to draw close to a trade for Anthony Davis or another big-name player.

"We're 16 days into July there's been no real traction in any trade conversations the Warriors have on AD (Davis) or any other star. They are, to my knowledge, behind other teams such as a Miami, a Cleveland, a Philadelphia," Charania said.

The reason the Warriors are presumably not gaining traction on a big trade is because rival teams are asking for too much, especially the Wizards in relation to Davis who really have little need to consider moving the 10x All-Star right now.

This is understandable because Washington (and other teams) have leverage knowing Golden State need to make a big trade if they want to sign James. Rivals can exploit that desire and push the price up, with the alternative for the Warriors being missing on James and running it back with a roster that has an injured Jimmy Butler and just finished 10th in the Western Conference.

The L.A. Clippers are the prime example of such a situation where they paid a huge price to trade for Paul George and sign Kawhi Leonard back in 2019, giving up future 2x MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a host of draft capital that led to a championship for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

LeBron James is still giving Warriors time to make big move

The good news for Golden State is that James has taken significant time with his decision, giving them an opportunity to explore another big move whether it be for Davis or another notable trade target.

Is he willing to wait until next month when Davis becomes extension-eligible, and where the Warriors could wrestle some leverage back if the Wizards aren't willing to offer a suitable extension? Of course, a lot of this could become easier if James landed with Golden State and had faith in the front office making a Davis (or alternative) trade following his signature.

That hasn't happened for the moment, leaving the Warriors in a pressurized situation where they may have to pay overs in a trade if they want to ultimately turn their James dream into reality.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow