Warriors chase James? James and the Lakers join forces, how do they make a decision?

According to multiple reporters, the Warriors tried to chase James on the 2024 trading deadline, but when the Lakers management asked James himself, the latter clearly refused.

Before the 2025 trading deadline, the Warriors once again extended olive branches to all the stars in the league, and James' name is also on the list of contact players. But the result still remains unchanged, and James still chose to stay in Los Angeles. And the Warriors got Butler in the end.

On the surface, the timeline between Zhanku parted ways.

And in July this year, James made another sentence through his agent Ritchie Paul: "I still want to compete for the championship." This sentence also ignited a new round of speculation: Is this James urging the Lakers management to strengthen as soon as possible? Or are you hinting that you are willing to be traded in the future? At least until now, James himself has never clarified the relevant rumors.

The subsequent media also dug up an interesting detail: in the past 18 months, the Warriors have called the Lakers many times to discuss the possibility of cooperation between James + Curry. Although there is no evidence that this is something that has happened recently, it is enough to show that the Warriors are indeed interested in the veteran.

is just the problem that this transaction is unlikely to be completed easily.

From the perspective of the Warriors, there are theoretically two salary routes:

The first plan: James for Butler.

It sounds simple, but there are certain obstacles in reality. Butler's salary is about 1.5 million yuan higher than James, while the Lakers are subject to the first-level hard salary cap restrictions, and the current salary space is only 1.1 million yuan. The Lakers may be able to match other players, but the larger the scale, the more difficult the operation will be.

Second plan: Package multiple role players.

The Warriors can use Green, Moody, Hilde and others to piece together their salaries, but this is likely to trigger the second hard salary cap, leaving them losing flexibility in Kumingga's contract renewal negotiations. In fact, the Warriors' signing market this summer is extremely quiet, which is largely to avoid crossing the line.

In short, it is unlikely that the Warriors will act rashly until Kumingga's future is unclear.

So, why do such news still appear? The reason for

is not difficult to understand. This transaction is logically meaningless. After the Warriors failed in the double timeline trial, the team's goal has chosen to bet on the present. The introduction of Butler is for Curry to win the final chance to win the championship, but judging from the playoff performance, it is difficult for Butler to independently support the offense without Curry. Even if James is about to be 41 years old, he is at least a more valuable choice than Butler. He can be the second engine around Curry and solve the Warriors' offensive stagnation dilemma of attack at critical moments.

As for the Lakers, they currently do not lack the core of holding the ball. From Doncic to Rivers, holding the ball offense is no longer a shortcoming. Instead, what they lack more is wing defense. Choosing to exchange James for Butler will not weaken too much offensive firepower on paper, and it can also make up for defensive shortcomings. More importantly, the Lakers' current direction has gradually shifted to preparing for the future, rather than betting on veteran James again.

In this context, it is naturally a bit reasonable to exchange James for Butler.

In addition to this, the Lakers' real focus is mainly to keep bullets in the big market in 2026 or 2027 in advance. They need to keep their salary flexible and wait for the opportunity to introduce the next superstar in their playing years. For example, signing O'Neal in 1996 and recruiting James in 2019, these cases are worth reference. The problem is that in recent years, most top stars have chosen to renew their contracts with their parent team in advance, and there are almost no ready-made top free agents in the free market. Real big transactions often need to be completed through transactions. The Lakers currently lack sufficient draft pick chips, which also puts them at a disadvantage in competing with other teams with chips.

In this case, James' expiration contract itself is also a bargaining chip for the Lakers. They can use the expiration contract to help other teams reduce their salary in exchange for a certain future value. ESPN reporter Brian said bluntly:

"The Lakers now view James more like a flexible salary tool."

And for the Warriors, the biggest weapon in their hands happens to be the first round pick in the future. Just imagine: a few years later, the Warriors' lineup may be 41-year-old James + 37-year-old Curry, and veterans like Green, it will obviously be difficult for the team to be competitive by then, and their future draft picks may become extremely valuable.

This is also the reason why the Warriors can compete with other teams in potential trades. In the short term, they are competitive; in the long term, the value of the first round of picks will basically soar.

But at the moment, there is almost no room for operation for this transaction. James must first believe that the Warriors have a better chance of winning the championship than the Lakers; the Warriors must also believe that James is more helpful than Butler. But if James really has enough dominance, it means that the Lakers themselves are competitive, and he will most likely not ask to leave.

And in this trade rumors, it is important to focus on how the Warriors ended the offseason and how Kuminga's subsequent contract renewal will be implemented. After entering the new season, the Lakers and Warriors' regular season start performance may create new opportunities. Under these two points, it may naturally become the fuse for future promotion of transactions.

But so far, there are two points that can be confirmed:

James is not 100% satisfied with the Lakers, otherwise he would not let the blame; and the Warriors have indeed expressed their interest in James many times in the past. And the rest, everything stays at the level of possibility.

As for the future? I can only wait for the time to give the answer.