It appears the Warriors are focused just on signing LeBron James in free agency rather than working out a trade for Anthony Davis as well, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said Tuesday morning on Get Up (YouTube link). Windhorst indicated there has been no progress in talks with the Wizards on a deal that would bring a fourth star to Golden State.
“Right now, I’m taking the Anthony Davis thing off the front burner,” Windhorst said. “I do not have data that says that’s likely to happen. Now, my information could change, but I do not see traction from the Wizards to want to do that. The Warriors told Jimmy Butler they’re not trading him. I think the focus right now is: Can they get LeBron James away from the Los Angeles Lakers? That’s something they’re going to try to get done today. Whether or not they can pull it off, let’s wait and watch.”
Speculation that the Warriors might try to form a veteran super-team erupted Monday after Draymond Green‘s surprise decision to decline his $27.7MM player option for the upcoming season. That gave the team more financial flexibility to fit in James with its $15MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception and possibly trade for Davis as well.
However, Monday’s agreement to re-sign Kristaps Porzingis to a two-year, $40MM deal complicates the situation somewhat. Golden State now has to unload some salary to have access to the full NTMLE, with Moses Moody viewed as the most likely candidate. Otherwise, the Warriors will likely be limited to the $6.1MM taxpayer MLE, which is much less enticing for James.
Appearing with Windhorst on Get Up, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said the reports of Golden State’s interest in Davis seemed dubious from the start.
“I understand maximizing your chances to compete during the twilight of Steph Curry, but a trade for AD, that’s going beyond the twilight,” MacMahon said. “Because, look, number one you’re probably giving up some kind of draft compensation … but more than anything, why does AD want to be traded? Because the Wizards are saying, hey, wait, we don’t want to give you an extension right now. Anthony Davis is owed $120MM over the next two years and wants a max or near-max extension off of that. To be committed to max money to AD when Steph Curry is riding off into the sunset would make zero sense for the Golden State Warriors.”
Davis is owed $58.5MM in 2026/27 and holds a $62.8MM player option for the following season. He was limited to 20 games this year and didn’t play at all after being traded to Washington in February.
