For most of his prime, Steph Curry preferred that the front office handle the heavy lifting in recruitment. But with just two years left on his contract, his championship window is dwindling, and patience is no longer a luxury. Jimmy Butler’s addition calamitously moved the needle only so far. So, this offseason, the Golden State Warriors are hunting for another star. It is no longer the Greek Freak. Curry is reportedly taking matters into his own hands to land LeBron James.

“League sources telling us at ClutchPoints that the Warriors are very much open to pursuing LeBron James and they plan to do so this offseason in free agency,” NBA insider Brett Siegel reported on Clutch Scoops. “They struck out on the Giannis deal. They know that is not going to happen for them. That ship has sailed… LeBron James, at the end of his career, could still contribute at a high level. We saw that in the playoffs. Pairing him with Stephen Curry is going to be something that the Warriors look to pursue over the next few weeks.”

“It seemed very doubtful [James moving to the Bay Area], it seemed low percentage; now, it’s kind of questionable,” Siegel continued. “There’s going to be some legs to this. That same source told us that Steph is planning on meeting and talking with LeBron about potentially joining the Warriors over the course of the next few weeks, leading up to free agency.”

This is not the first time Golden State has swung for LeBron. In February 2024, Joe Lacob personally called Lakers owner Jeanie Buss to inquire about James’ availability at the deadline, while Draymond Green (a lead recruiter in Kevin Durant’s free agency signing) simultaneously texted Rich Paul to gauge his client’s interest. But Paul shut it down immediately and confirmed that James had no interest in a move and wanted to remain a Laker. But two years and a couple of frustrating seasons later, LeBron is now an unrestricted free agent for the first time since 2018, and the conversation is fundamentally different.

On the other hand, the Warriors’ recent summer wishlist has been nothing short of ambitious. They targeted Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, and even James. For Leonard, though, Siegel stated that it was always an “outside chance of that being a real scenario for them.”

But for Giannis, it isn’t just Siegel reporting the cold water. Jake Fischer noted the Greek Freak “isn’t exactly enamored with moving to the Western Conference in general, let alone going and being second fiddle to Stephen Curry.” With those trails going cold, the path to an MVP-caliber running mate now runs squarely through LeBron James. This desire runs deeper than a front-office whim. LeBron has been on Joe Lacob’s wish list since at least 2020, as per Siegel.

The mechanics of how Golden State actually lands him, though, are complicated. The most straightforward path is the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, and according to Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard, if the Warriors manage their roster and payroll carefully, they could offer LeBron the $15.1 million figure without needing to trade anything or unload major salaries, making it a direct, swift addition.

Still, we’re looking at a rough 70% pay cut from the $52.6 million James earned this season… It’s a significant ask (to put it mildly).

The more ambitious route is a sign-and-trade, with Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, or Kristaps Porzingis as the headline piece. Butler carries a $56.8 million contract but is nearing 37 and recovering from a torn right ACL. Green, meanwhile, shares both a close friendship with James and an agent in Paul, making him an awkward trade chip.

More realistically, Green could opt out of his $27.7 million player option and accept a reduced salary to manage the cap flexibility Golden State needs. And there is genuine mutual interest in building on it: James has previously expressed his desire to play alongside Curry, a sentiment that only deepened after their partnership under Steve Kerr at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“S**t, there’s some m*********** in today’s game, but Steph Curry,” James said all the way back in 2022. “Steph Curry’s the one that I wanna play with for sure, in today’s game… [Q: Why Steph?] I love everything about that guy. Lethal. When he gets out [of] his car, you better guard him right from the moment he pulls up to the arena… You might wanna guard him when he gets out of bed. Swear to god. He’s serious.”

But every coin has two sides… even if the other side is significantly lighter in this case.

The Lakers have the means to extend LeBron James, but will they?

Bear with me here.

There’s a concrete vision of what the roster could look like. Per SI, if the Warriors re-sign Green and Porzingis and land James via the MLE, they project a starting five of Curry, Butler, James, Green, and Porzingis – four of the highest-IQ players in the sport, sharing the floor.

Whether Steve Kerr can make the offensive fit work is another question entirely. But the ceiling of that group is unmistakably real!

The problem is James’ salary floor. Per insider Jake Fischer, chatter that James might accept a veteran minimum, roughly $3.8 million for 2026-27, has been explicitly shot down.

“It does not sound like that is actually in the cards at all,” Fischer said, making it clear that he received pushback directly from James’ camp.

That matters because it narrows the financial gap considerably: Golden State’s MLE is $15.1 million, while most other suitors, Cleveland, Denver, and New York, can only offer the veteran minimum outright. That, perversely, may actually strengthen the Warriors’ hand against the field.

“If it comes down to, would you rather pay Austin 40 million for the next five years or LeBron 40 million for one year, they’re going to prioritize the long-term contract here,” Jovan Buha said on Buha’s Block on May 30. “Austin is more of a priority for the Lakers than LeBron is. That’s just a fact. The second part of it is that Austin is going to have a market.”

That dynamic has deeper roots. This past season, LeBron quietly became the third option on his own team, deferring heavily to Luka Doncic and Reaves. He averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists on 51.5% shooting, which are All-Star numbers by any standard, but his pick-and-roll usage dropped to roughly half of what it was two seasons ago.

The 41-year-old, who’s been the leader of the pack for more than a decade, adapted admirably. But for a player entering the final act of the greatest career in NBA history, a franchise that is already looking past him toward a five-year Reaves commitment is a cold place to spend it.

Golden State is also not the only outside threat. Cleveland and New York have been identified as the two most credible alternative destinations.

Here’s why. The Cavaliers carry real emotional weight, a homecoming narrative with Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and a roster that just reached the Eastern Conference Finals, but their cap situation is severely constrained, leaving them unlikely to offer more than the veteran minimum.

The Knicks, meanwhile, are suddenly East favorites and carry James’ well-documented affection for Madison Square Garden, but may choose to stay the course (which is working) rather than disrupt a team built for a Finals run.

That calculus, Reaves commanding up to $40 million annually over five years, Doncic’s long-term fit looming over every roster decision, and Cleveland and New York hamstrung by their own cap realities, are precisely what gives Curry and the Dubs an opening.

If the Lakers are looking past LeBron, that’s turned into an open secret of sorts; if Cleveland can’t afford him, and if New York won’t move off their current path, Golden State’s MLE route starts to look less like an insult and more like the best available offer on the table.

The long-rumored pairing may finally have a real runway, but only if LeBron decides that legacy, not leverage, is what this last chapter is about.