LeBron James has to make another “decision” this offseason since he’s a free agent. While there probably won’t be a huge TV special like there was when he decided to take his talents to South Beach, the Golden State Warriors reportedly have interest in him bringing his talents to the Bay Area.
It would be insane if the Warriors landed James and paired him up with Stephen Curry in the twilight of their respective careers, but there are a few big potential impediments to making that happen.
Two Warriors veterans, Draymond Green and Al Horford, could make it much harder for the Warriors to land James if they opt into the player options in their contract. Dieter Kurtenbach of the Mercury News made this point on social media.
Warriors veterans hold power when it comes to LeBron James wish
Green has a player option for next season at a salary of $27.6 million. That’s a lot of money and with Steve Kerr back as head coach, it really makes sense for Green to be back as well. There’s a chance Green could take a pay cut or sign some sort of team-friendly extension, but if he just chooses to opt in that would be a lot of money for a player who definitely declined last season.
As for Horford, he has a player option for next season worth nearly $6 million. He's been fairly noncommittal on his status for next season, but it wouldn’t be a shock if he decided to come back since he seemed to enjoy his time with the Warriors and played quite well after a rough, injury-plagued start to the season.
That’s over $30 million that goes against the salary cap for the Warriors. That would force a pretty steep pay cut for James, so much so that it seems unlikely he would do so and depart the Los Angeles Lakers in the process.
Maybe he would if it were the Cleveland Cavaliers and he just wanted to play one more year for his hometown team, but the Warriors won’t get too much more of a discount on James than the $15.1 million non-taxpayer exception they could possibly offer.
That’s why the James scenario feels so unlikely. It’s definitely possible but so many other things would have to happen, that it just doesn't seem like a likely outcome despite rampant reporting and speculation over the past week.
A return to the Lakers feels a lot more likely at this stage in James’ career since that’s where his family is. The Warriors are reportedly trying to sell James on the notion that he could still live in LA if he joined Golden State, but does he really want to travel that much in what could be the final year of his career?
The Warrior veterans hold a lot of power in this scenario, and Green and Horford could shut down much of the speculation about James heading to the Bay pretty quickly if they wanted.
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