How Draymond Green's opt-out can help Warriors' pursuit of LeBron James and Anthony Davis
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Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has declined his $27.7 million player option in order to assist the organization in freeing up salary-cap flexibility for a possible pursuit of free agent LeBron James.
The plan isn’t just to acquire James, but to also make a play for Washington Wizards big man Anthony Davis, reuniting the former teammates who won a championship together with the Los Angleles Lakers in 2020.
From a financial perspective, it’s a sound move, even if things will get tight.
Let’s break it all down
Working the cap
Stephen Curry will earn over $62.5 million next season, and Jimmy Butler will sit at over $56.8 million.
Now, Butler will — in the above scenario — be involved in whatever framework to acquire Davis, meaning, in essence, that Butler’s salary slot will be replaced by that of Davis at $58.4 million
That means James, and whichever new deal Green signs, will have to be pushed into an expected salary cap of roughly $165 million.
That will be feasible, as long as the Warriors make sacrifices elsewhere. Moses Moody’s cap hit of $12.5 million should be easy to pivot off, which would likely provide the organization with enough financial leeway to lock in James, albeit on a less than max deal.
James at over $50-plus million would make it nearly impossible to build a sustainable supporting cast along with Curry, Davis and Green.
However, the Warriors can likely make the math work if James and Green agree to deals that are lower in annual value than they previously earned in order to make a push for the 2027 NBA Finals.
What’s the deal for Washington?
Of course, seeing as a part of this idea also relies on acquiring Davis from Washington, you have to wonder what the Wizards will ask for.
The Wizards should play this smart. If the Warriors are indeed trying to gather a Big 4, fully realizing Butler is the primary piece coming back, the Wizards should squeeze them for as many additional assets, in the form of draft compensation, as possible.
Because as-is, Butler is coming off an ACL tear and he simply isn’t a position of need for the Wizards, who just drafted AJ Dybantsa, while also having Bilal Coulibaly and Kyshawn George on the wing depth chart.
While some have speculates the trade can be expanded, thus rerouting Butler elsewhere, it’s crucial to understand the difficulty of that. Butler, due to age, contract and recent injury history, simply isn’t an attractive asset.
Could that change? Sure. Some team might be inclined to get involved regardless, but as of right now, we have to work under the assumption that moving Butler is going to be a hard sell.
Taking on Butler can be fine, as long as they’re compensated for doing so, which provides the Wizards with significant leverage. They’re in no rush to pivot off Davis and should frankly be disinterested in helping out Golden State, unless a major offer lands at their feet.
But that major offer could be coming.
This would be the final run for Curry before he hangs up his sneakers and walks away from the game.
Perhaps the cost isn’t important for Golden State, if that’s the lens they’re looking through.
If so, the Wizards need to take full advantage of their position.
