There could only be one winner in the LeBron James sweepstakes this summer, and unfortunately for the Golden State Warriors, it wasn’t them. James stunningly chose to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers to end what had been quite a free agency saga.
The Warriors were perhaps the team hit the most by James’ decision, and NBA insider Shams Charania said on the Stephen A. Smith Show that they’d have been the frontrunners if they’d gotten Anthony Davis from the Washington Wizards.
“What if the Warriors had gone out and been willing to give up several draft capital to go get an Anthony Davis from Washington?” Charania said. “Does LeBron James follow suit? My understanding was if the Warriors were able to get Anthony Davis, they had as good of a chance, if not better than anyone, to go get a LeBron James. And I think you have to look at that in the calculus of everything.”
Now, it was reported even before free agency began that the Warriors were attempting to trade for Davis and then sign James. They were going to present the 41-year-old with the opportunity to reunite with his former Los Angeles Lakers co-star.
There were a few issues, though. For starters, Jimmy Butler, who is recovering from a torn ACL, would likely have to be included in any trade in order to match salaries. It was initially said the Wizards were open to trading Davis, but were not interested in taking Butler. That meant a third team would have to be included, which complicated matters.
Not too long after, though, Wizards GM Will Dawkins came out and said they were keeping Davis. Dawkins also said the 10-time All-Star wanted to stay in Washington, dismissing any talk about him being unhappy in the process.
Charania mentioned here as well that the Wizards had no intention of trading Davis and it would have taken a massive offer to change their stance.
“The Wizards didn’t want to move Anthony Davis,” Charania said. “And if they were to listen to an AD trade, you knew their price was going to be sky-high. I mean, if the Warriors wanted to get involved there, it would have probably required multiple firsts, multiple swaps, seconds, and that became a very steep price.”
That would have been too much. Davis isn’t anywhere near as valuable, despite averaging 20.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game in 2025-26.
The reason, of course, is that all of those numbers Davis put up were with the Dallas Mavericks, as he didn’t play a single game after they traded him to the Wizards in February 2026 due to injury. The 33-year-old played 20 games last season and 51 the season before that. No one is giving up multiple first-round picks and pick swaps for Davis when he has shown that he can’t stay on the court.
Now, James, who averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game in 2025-26, potentially signing with the Warriors if they had gotten Davis, does make one think about it. It still probably wouldn’t have been the right choice.
Ultimately, James decided the Warriors didn’t give him the best chance of winning a title and chose to go elsewhere. The fact that they didn’t make any major offseason move like the 76ers, who acquired Jaylen Brown, was just another strike against them.
Seeing James go elsewhere means the Warriors have now missed out on every major offseason target. It’s probably not an exaggeration to say they are the biggest losers of this offseason.
The Warriors still have Stephen Curry playing at a high level, as he averaged 26.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game in 2025-26, but they aren’t even close to being contenders. It looks like Curry’s final years are going to be wasted.
