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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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LeBron James is set to become a free agent for the first time since 2018, and he still hasn't had any lengthy conversations with the Los Angeles Lakers about returning to join Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. He hasn't said he's done yet, and the organization hasn't either, but it's starting to look like he could be playing somewhere else next season.
Over the last few weeks, a reunion with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the franchise that drafted him No. 1 overall in 2003 and he won a title with in 2016, has been strongly rumored, along with a potential return to Miami to team up with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo on the Heat.
Now, Draymond Green just made the clearest indication yet of which team might actually be leading the pack.
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According to ESPN's Shams Charania, Green officially declined his $27.7 million player option for the 2026-27 season on Monday morning, making him an unrestricted free agent. The move frees up cap space for the Golden State Warriors to pursue LeBron James as well as potentially Anthony Davis to put together another superteam.
On Monday's episode of "First Take," ESPN's Brian Windhorst discussed what the move signals about the LeBron James sweepstakes.
"This is potentially a very big domino in this entire NBA offseason. This is the news we were waiting to see if it was going to happen today," Windhorst said. "For months, the expectation was that Draymond Green was going to pick up his option, play alongside Steph Curry, and they were going to wait for Jimmy Butler to come back and try to assemble something in the second half of the season. This is an indication that Draymond Green is willing to take a pay cut."
"This opens the door for the Warriors to use their mid-level exception at $15 million. $15 million for LeBron James is a preposterous bargain ... The thing that I've been told is that the Lakers have interest in re-signing LeBron ... But the way it was explained to me was that LeBron has been 'unavailable' for a meeting with the Lakers ... Now we see Draymond Green, a long-time LeBron James confidant who has the same agent, now opts out of his contract to open up a window," Windhorst added.
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Green and James are represented by the same agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports. The two have maintained a strong friendship for years, and this makes it feel like a much bigger move could be on the horizon.
Davis is on an expiring $58.4 million contract with the Washington Wizards, so the Warriors would have to initiate a trade, likely including Jimmy Butler, if they wanted to get him too. But it's clear Golden State is gearing up for something massive.
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Reuniting James with Davis in the Bay, while keeping Green on a lowered deal and pairing all of that with franchise icon Steph Curry might be enough to get Golden State back to the top of the mountain. One last run with four legends of the game.
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