Warriors planning offseason as if LeBron will return to Lakers

The Warriors would certainly love to add LeBron James. By all accounts, they’ve explored the idea for a couple seasons.

But Golden State isn’t counting on the idea, according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater. In fact, they’re moving ahead as if James will return to the Lakers for a 24th NBA season.

Per Slater, the Warriors are a “willing suitor” should current negotiations between James and L.A. break down. 

“But openness does not equal anticipation,” Slater wrote. “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.”

That said, until James announces he’s going somewhere, the Warriors (and perhaps 28 other NBA teams) can dream. But it’s probably not a great idea to build your offseason around it. From the sounds of things, that’s not what the Warriors are doing.

Either way, the Warriors do have plenty of offseason decisions to make. They are very clearly trying to stay in and maneuver even more toward win-now mode around Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler (when healthy). 

Kristaps Porzingis is an unrestricted free agent. Green has a $27.6 million player option. Al Horford has a $3.9 million player option. All that and more need to be sorted out.

It may be on hold until LeBron figures out his next move. Could it involve Golden State? Maybe. But it appears the Warriors themselves aren’t planning on it.