During the three weeks of bigger picture conversation that ultimately led Steve Kerr to return as coach of the Golden State Warriors, sources in the front office expressed slight surprise about Kerr’s steadfast agreement that long-term organizational prudence is needed despite what sets up as an urgent final chapter.
Don’t mortgage the future for the present. Don’t throw around first-round picks for marginal upgrades.
“It’s what should’ve been done four years ago,” one high-ranking team source said. “But not now.”
The Giannis Antetokounmpo conversation is a barometer. As recently as February’s trade deadline, the Warriors had aggressive discussions with the Milwaukee Bucks and expressed a willingness to unload their draft pick cupboard. But during offseason trade conversations with the Bucks, they’ve remained on the sideline, a signal of a quietly shifting approach.
“We had to come to a much more reality-based shared vision on what success looks like for us,” Kerr said at his return news conference. “What are we trying to accomplish? Because for the first time since our injury-plagued year [in 2019-20], we aren’t sitting here saying, ‘Hey, we can win a championship.'”
Here’s what I’m hearing about the Warriors as transaction season in the NBA arrives.
If negotiations between James and the Los Angeles Lakers break down — and if James goes searching for a new home for his 24th NBA season — the Warriors are a willing suitor, team sources said.
But openness does not equal anticipation. All the intel that Warriors decision-makers have gathered continues to point toward James’ return to the Lakers, team sources said, and they are currently plotting their summer under that premise.
The Warriors’ pitch, if the door cracks open, would be simple. They can clear room for the full $15.1 million nontaxpayer midlevel — a team-friendly, low-risk bargain with on-court and off-court financial upside.
James is an obvious top free agent target at that price point. The Warriors could theoretically tack on a second season player option and get Stephen Curry in on the recruitment process, if required. But they haven’t knocked on that door because they’ve been given any indication it can be unlocked.
The Warriors checked in on Leonard in the days leading up to the February trade deadline, as sources told ESPN in the aftermath. The LA Clippers, team sources said, engaged to a greater degree than in the past, but they ultimately returned to the Warriors with the same answer: Team owner Steve Ballmer said no.
Leonard, unlike James, would cost a mix of players and future draft capital and would presumably require a large-scale extension off his current $50.3 million expiring deal, making it a greater long-term gamble.
But team sources continue to indicate he’s the type of established wing talent they would pursue in a win-now maneuver, depending on the price point. The problem: League sources said Ballmer has maintained a firm stance against a Leonard trade, preferring to continue building around his star forward.
New Orleans Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III could be more obtainable in this transaction cycle, league sources said. Murphy is a player the Warriors front office has circled for years as a prime wing who fits a need, the Kerr system and, at 25, accomplishes the goal of getting younger.
The Pelicans have clung to him tightly, but league sources said New Orleans has been signaling a desire to jump into the first round of next week’s draft. The Warriors have the 11th pick and control of their future firsts.
What about that 2026 first-round pick?
General manager Mike Dunleavy and his front office have spent the vast majority of the past month sifting through options with the No. 11 pick. There’s been a collective and genuine level of enthusiasm building about the prospects who could fall into their range, solidifying a league belief that they’ll be protective of it in trade talks.
Controlling owner Joe Lacob and executive vice president Kirk Lacob have been part of the process. Kerr has been in the facility watching workouts. But this is considered Dunleavy’s choice, a critical decision for a recently extended general manager during this in-between phase of the final Curry chapter and whatever comes after.
Michigan wing Yaxel Lendeborg was in San Francisco last week. Mixed into a group of otherwise second-round prospects, Lendeborg unsurprisingly impressed those in attendance, team sources said, solidifying an internal belief that he’s a 6-foot-9 plug-and-play frontcourt option for a team that desperately needs skilled size.
“The fit is so obvious,” one team source said.
But so is the age question. Lendeborg is 24, a week older than Jonathan Kuminga, the fifth-year wing the Warriors traded in February. Lendeborg’s age, team sources said, doesn’t disqualify him. He’s a real option at the 11th spot. But it will be part of the calculus when the Warriors are on the clock, especially in a loaded lottery where a few intriguing prospects several years younger should fall.
Brayden Burries is among them. The 20-year-old Arizona guard has declined workouts with select teams in the top 10, including the Sacramento Kings (No. 7), league sources said. There’s a belief that the Dallas Mavericks, selecting at No. 9, are one of his preferred landing spots.
But he appears to know there’s at least a chance he might slip, and the Warriors are an intriguing backstop. Burries is scheduled to work out for them in San Francisco on Thursday, team sources said, the same day the Warriors are bringing in Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr. and Washington big man Hannes Steinbach.
Michigan center Aday Mara, Louisville guard Mikel Brown Jr. and Houston guard Kingston Flemings are three other names of note. They’re presumed top-10 picks without scheduled workouts for the Warriors, but they have fans in the building — particularly Brown, who is generating a ton of predraft buzz — and the Warriors have gathered intel in case someone slips through the cracks.
What about their own free agents?
Draymond Green‘s decision on his $27.6 million player option has a set timeline. He must make a choice before the June 29 deadline.
Team sources have indicated for months that the Warriors’ interest in a decline-and-extend with Green for multiple years would be contingent on the first-year salary savings (from $27.6 million down into somewhere in the $20 million range) giving them a direct path to upgrade the roster elsewhere.
Dunleavy has been in contact with Rich Paul, Green’s agent. It’s possible something will materialize in the next two weeks that shifts the landscape, but the current expectation from the team is that Green will pick up his player option and return on an expiring one-year, $27.6 million deal.
That would immediately make Green one of the most flexible salary-matching pieces if Golden State dips into the trade market in the coming months, which would generate a level of unease. But team sources praise Green for the way he handled trade rumors last season and maintain a mutual desire for him to finish his career with the franchise, if everything lines up.
An extension for Green would better solidify that dream, but Dunleavy and the Warriors are valuing their future financial flexibility and are prioritizing keeping the books clean, team sources said. They only have $23.4 million guaranteed — $13.4 million to Moses Moody and $10.3 million to Gui Santos, spread over two years — beyond next season.
That is part of the equation in their current discussion with impending free agent Kristaps Porzingis, who they have been able to negotiate after the NBA Finals ended. The Warriors, team sources said, want to bring back Porzingis but prefer it to be on a short-term deal at a reduced rate from the $30.7 million he played for last season. There is growing momentum toward a deal to bring Porzingis back, league sources said.
Veteran center Al Horford has a $5.9 million player option with a June 29 deadline. That outcome remains to be determined, league sources said. Veteran guard De’Anthony Melton has a $3.4 million player option and the recent expectation is that Melton will test his free agency market, which is expected to include the Warriors, depending on the price.
Once there’s a clearer picture of next season’s roster, the Warriors are expected to move onto longer-term business later in the summer.
Fourth-year guard Brandin Podziemski is eligible for an extension. Podziemski said he would like to get something done, and team and league sources expressed an openness and optimism that it could happen once conversation commences closer to the October deadline.
Then there’s Curry and Jimmy Butler, the two older stars making a combined $119.3 million on expiring contracts. Butler is in the mid stages of rehabbing a torn ACL and isn’t eligible for an extension until February, when more will be known about his recovery.
Curry is extension-eligible in late August, and Curry and management have remained firm in their mutual plan to keep him as the legendary one-franchise face of the Warriors.
“We’ve always stated we want Steph to finish his career here, be here as long as he wants,” Dunleavy said. “I don’t see a scenario where we don’t want to figure out a way to have him finish here.”
