Warriors' Failed Pursuit of LeBron James Leaves Steph Curry Without Help in the Twilight of His Career

The Golden State Warriors went all in this offseason to lure LeBron James to the Bay Area, pairing the pitch with a run at Washington Wizards big man Anthony Davis in hopes of assembling a superstar core around Stephen Curry. Instead, James chose the Philadelphia 76ers, leaving Golden State largely running back the same roster from a season that ended without a playoff appearance — and leaving Curry, now approaching 39, with a far murkier path to one more championship.

A calculated but unsuccessful pitch

The Warriors' pursuit of James wasn't subtle. Curry himself made a personal appeal to James on "Good Morning America" during the free agency period, part of a broader campaign to convince the 41-year-old superstar that Golden State offered his best shot at a fifth championship ring. Draymond Green added to the effort by declining his $27.7 million player option for the 2026-27 season, a move that created additional salary-cap flexibility specifically aimed at helping the Warriors put together a competitive offer for James.

According to multiple reports, Golden State's full plan involved more than just signing James outright. The front office was simultaneously working to trade for Davis, hoping that adding the 10-time All-Star big man would sweeten the pitch and give James a more complete supporting cast alongside Curry and Green. That trade would have required Golden State to send Jimmy Butler, along with multiple first-round picks and pick swaps, to Washington. Ultimately, the Warriors chose not to pull the trigger on that deal, and James signed with Philadelphia instead, joining Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown on a roster he reportedly believes gives him the best chance to contend for a title in what he has described as the final chapter of his playing career.

A disappointing offseason by most accounts

With James off the board, the Warriors have been left with a roster that looks largely unchanged from the group that missed the playoffs last season. Golden State re-signed Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis and De'Anthony Melton, and added rookie Yaxel Lendeborg with the No. 11 overall pick in the draft, but made no major trades or free-agent additions beyond those moves. NBC Sports Bay Area's Dalton Johnson has described the offseason as a disappointment for a franchise that came off a 37-win season and missed the playoffs for the fourth time in seven years, arguing Golden State needed a marquee addition to claw its way back into contention.

Lendeborg does offer some reason for optimism. The 23-year-old was named MVP of the Las Vegas Summer League after averaging 14.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and four assists, showing early signs of the kind of versatile, do-it-all game that could eventually earn him a role on a veteran roster. Whether he's ready to make a meaningful impact in his rookie season, though, remains an open question.

Injuries complicate an already difficult picture

Golden State's outlook is further clouded by injuries to two key rotation pieces. Butler, who suffered a torn ACL, and Moses Moody, who tore his left patellar tendon, are both expected to miss the start of the season, thinning out a roster that already lacked star power beyond Curry and Green. ESPN's Anthony Slater offered a cautiously optimistic update on Butler's recovery timeline during a recent appearance on "NBA Today," saying doctors and people close to Butler have indicated progress. "He's a little over five months from the ACL surgery," Slater said, adding that Butler has "turned the corner a little bit in the last few weeks."

Much of Golden State's hope for a competitive season rests on how quickly Butler can return to form. When Butler joined the Warriors in a midseason trade in February 2025, the team went 23-7 the rest of that season, a stretch that offered a glimpse of what a healthy, fully integrated roster built around Curry, Green and Butler could look like. But that stretch also came with caveats — before Butler's injury this past January, the Warriors had been inconsistent for much of the season, raising questions about how sustainable that earlier surge really was.

Porzingis remains a wild card

Kristaps Porzingis, acquired last February, represents another variable the Warriors are counting on. He appeared in just 15 games last season due to a series of health issues, and Golden State's ability to build a consistent rotation may hinge heavily on whether he can stay on the court for a full season this time around.

A crowded, difficult conference

Even under the best-case scenario, in which Butler returns healthy and effective, Porzingis stays on the floor, and Lendeborg contributes immediately, the Warriors will be competing in a Western Conference that includes the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs among the teams jockeying for the top of the standings. Golden State's roster, as currently constructed, offers no obvious individual addition capable of closing that gap on its own.

What might have been

For Curry, the offseason represents another missed opportunity to add star power around him as he enters the later stages of his career. The idea of James and Curry sharing a Warriors backcourt carried particular resonance given their partnership on last summer's gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic team, where James earned MVP honors and Curry delivered several of the tournament's most memorable performances. That chemistry never translated to an NBA roster, and with James now in Philadelphia, any such pairing appears unlikely to happen at this stage of either player's career.

Barring further roster additions before the season begins, the Warriors appear positioned to lean heavily on internal development and health rather than star power this year. For a franchise that won four championships between 2015 and 2022, and for a player in Curry still widely regarded as the greatest shooter in NBA history, the coming season now looks far more uncertain than the front office had hoped when its pursuit of James began.