The Golden State Warriors remain at the forefront of the chase for star forward LeBron James, who is now two weeks removed from telling the Lakers that he would not be coming back to L.A. next season. Since that moment, we have seen three different summer leagues, we have seen more than 70 players sign contracts, and we have seen major blockbuster trades–including one for Kawhi Leonard that was both done and undone. A lot has happened. But we still don’t know where James is heading.
For a team like the Warriors, as well as the Cavaliers, the Heat and the other top suitors, this is getting more than a little frustrating. There is not much business these tams can do until they know what James will decide. The one positive was that the consensus has been that James will make his pick this week, and we can finally begin putting some closure on this offseason.
But, it turns out, the consensus may well have been wrong. That’s according to the latest from ESPN insider Shams Charania.
Warriors Will Have to Wait for LeBron James
Speaking on the morning show, “Get Up” on Monday, Charania delivered a blow to the Warriors and the rest of the league–James does not appear to be any closer to picking a team. He is still “fact finding.”
Said Charania: “I am told LeBron James is not in an immediate rush. He is in Ohio right now, getting family time. But also his agent, Rich Paul, they’re in fact-finding, information-gathering stages right now. One thing I do expect over the coming days, LeBron James, Rich Paul will take the next step in their conversations with teams. From the beginning of this process … it was very clear around the league which teams could be logical fits—think about the Cavaliers, the Warriors, the Miami Heat, then the Sixers go out and get Jaylen Brown, they get on the map.”
LeBron James Prepping for ‘Conversations’
So James, it seems, after having met with some friends in the Cavaliers organization and hanging out with Warriors forward Draymond Green this weekend, is ready to start having more official conversations with teams. And he’s trying to poke and prod to find out what each team would look like with him in the mix.
Said Charania: “You go over all the information, you see what the team looks like right now, what it could look like during the dog days of the season, in January, in December, you think about the culture, the environment. You look at all these rosters that Rich Paul describes, the starting fives that LeBron James could be part of.
“Right now, Rich Paul and LeBron James, they are in fact-finding mode and in the coming days, they’ll be taking the next step in conversations.”
Warriors’ Draymond Green Made His Pitch
It’s not exactly clear what that will all mean for the timetable of this process, and what the Warriors might do next. The teams that have interest in James will, presumably, get to make their cases for him, though whether that will remain an informal process or become full-on intricate presentations, the way teams recruited James when he was a free agent in 2010, is uncertain.
The Warriors did, possibly, get a leg up with Green spending time with James in recent days. As Green said on his podcast, “I’d be remiss if I don’t take the opportunity to throw my pitch in there. I’d be crazy if we’re together for X amount of days and at no point am I like ‘Yo, we need to chop it up, what the hell going on? What we doing?’
“So there’s that. Of course I did that and of course the pitch was crazy. I think I’m pretty decent at it.”
Warriors Get Frustrating New Update on LeBron James