The Golden State Warriors remain strongly in pursuit of LeBron James as a free agent, potentially giving Steve Kerr an abundance of forward options should they manage to land the 4x MVP.
Yaxel Lendeborg’s impressive form at summer league has many believing in his potential as not only a key rotation piece, but a potential starter from opening night. Combine this with the continued presence of Draymond Green, along with the growth of Gui Santos from late last season, and you have a situation where James could be pushed into actually become the legitimate point guard of the Warriors next season should he arrive.
Yaxel Lendeborg can help push LeBron James into point guard role
James has essentially been a de-facto point guard over his career anyway, even if he's primarily played with two guards across his legendary career at the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and most recently the Los Angeles Lakers.
The beauty of having James at the Warriors would be his two-man game with Stephen Curry, whether it be in pick-and-rolls, inverted pick-and-rolls, or the 2x MVP running off screens while James handles the ball. In this last respect, Curry could be arguably more a shooting guard than a point guard, allowing Golden State to utilize the respective biggest strengths of the two greatest players in the past 15 years.
The Warriors could be flexible in how they fill out the remainder of their starting lineup, but it would make sense for Green to also start given his chemistry with Curry, his involvement in the potential addition of James, and the collective experience and IQ that the trio would bring to the table.
An available Kristaps Porzingis is essentially pencilled in as the starting center and offers James and Curry much-needed spacing, while Lendorg could fit in as the starting small forward for the injured Jimmy Butler.
Warriors would be leaning into the kind of size they've never had
The immediete issue with this kind of lineup is a lack of perimeter defense, while there may also be a lack of shooting -- though Curry makes up for a lot and Lendeborg has shot the ball sensationally during summer league.
What the Warriors lack in perimeter defense they could make up for in size and length. Aside from Curry, the shortest player in this lineup would be a 6'6"Green who's played significant minutes at center over recent years.
If Golden State go more traditional and start with two guards like Curry and Brandin Podziemski (or De'Anthony Melton), that would leave two of Green, Lendeborg and Santos coming off the bench. In an ideal world the latter two need big roles, particularly given they'll be called upon even more on nights where the veterans are resting.
This is why James being the starting point guard would make sense -- it could allow Kerr to get his best players and most-talented youngsters on the floor more often. Of course, this is all hypothetical until James makes his decision, but it's a fun and intruiging thought exercise nonetheless.
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