The Golden State Warriors are left pinning all their hopes on LeBron James in free agency after another one of their key targets slipped away to a rival team on Thursday.
Anfernee Simons had been a prominent target for the Warriors in their attempts to provide Stephen Curry with offensive support, only for the 27-year-old to sign a two-year, $12.3 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Warriors clinging to LeBron dream after missing out on Anfernee Simons
It's another major win for the 76ers less than 24 hours after their shock blockbuster trade for former Finals MVP Jaylen Brown. Simons has taken a major discount after just completing a four-year, $100 million contract, leaving Golden State fans even more frustrated after the franchise struck out on a player who's averaged 18.8 points and 4.1 assists on 38.1% 3-point shooting over the last five seasons.
According to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints in the wake of the signing, the Warriors were only willing to offer Simons a minimum contract as they await a free agency decision from James at any moment.
Anfernee Simons had deals on the table from Miami and Golden State.
— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) July 2, 2026
The Warriors were offering him a minimum contract as they wait for word from LeBron James, sources told @ClutchPoints.
Simons wanted nothing less than $6M a year on a new deal, which is exactly what he gets.
The problem now is the free agency market is getting rather thin beyond James, meaning Golden State are clinging to the idea of adding the superstar forward if they want to make any meaningful upgrade to their roster.
There are still role players capable of being helpful in the right situation, yet that situation doesn't exist when the Warriors lack the star power and offensive creation while Jimmy Butler remains injured on the sidelines.
Simons -- and to some extent Collin Sexton who signed with the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday -- would have at least provided Golden State with another shot creator who've each averaged 20+ points in a season on multiple occassions.
Warriors could be left to run it back if they miss on LeBron
The equation is simple for the Warriors: Sign James and all the pieces and roles start to fit into place, perhaps even more so if they make a subsequent trade involving the injured Butler for another star.
Yet if they don't sign James and he heads home to the Cleveland Cavaliers or elsewhere, they'll be left with largely the same roster as the one that finished 10th in the Western Conference last season -- a fairly bleak outlook with Butler and Moses Moody set to miss a major chunk of the next campaign.
Missing out on Simons isn't the absolute complete end of the world, but it does make signing James all the more important given the free agency market is starting to dry up.
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