Curry will personally recruit James! The biggest obstacle for the Warriors is salary, and the signing timeline also becomes a key challenge.

On June 5, Beijing time, is the James-Curry partnership actually coming? Per ClutchPoints reporter Brett Siegel, the Warriors are planning to aggressively pursue James during this summer’s free agency, with a high recruitment standard: Curry is prepared to personally talk with James and lobby him to come to Golden State.

Most league insiders still believe James will stay in the NBA for at least another season. Growing rumors indicate that once there is even a slight opening in free agency, the Warriors will formally extend a sincere offer and go all out to recruit him. Curry’s willingness to be more deeply involved in the recruitment process than before shows that the Warriors’ management highly values the concept of "two legendary superstars teaming up in the twilight of their careers."

These rumors have been circulating for a while: the Warriors’ front office has admired James for years, long viewing him as the ideal piece to pair with Curry and complete the final puzzle for another championship run.

League sources indicate that team owner Joe Lacob has had James on his dream acquisition list since the early 2020s. The management believes James can not only extend the Warriors’ championship window but also form one of the most high-profile superstar duos in NBA history.

As James enters the later stages of his career and frequently discusses his future plans publicly, speculation about this blockbuster partnership has once again heated up.

The biggest obstacle to this acquisition comes from salary cap constraints. Due to NBA salary cap rules, even a championship-caliber team finds it difficult to free up enough space to sign James at his market value.

There are reports that the Lakers are not offering James a contract extension, further fueling departure rumors. The Lakers are currently reshaping their roster around younger core players like Luka Dončić.

It is widely believed that James still deserves a max-level contract, yet most contending teams can only offer him the non-taxpayer mid-level exception (around $15 million per year) to sign him.

Whether the Warriors can use this mid-level exception largely depends on subsequent roster moves, with the key being whether Draymond Green opts out of his current contract and accepts a salary restructure. The Warriors must complete a series of salary-cap maneuvers to create a viable path to sign James, while also preserving financial flexibility to pursue other free agents such as Anfernee Simons, Collin Sexton, and De’Anthony Melton.

Beyond salary, personal relationships make this signing more than just a theoretical cap exercise. James has repeatedly praised Curry’s on-court performance and has been a longtime friend of Draymond Green. In 2024, James and Curry won an Olympic gold medal together while playing for Team USA under coach Steve Kerr. James has also built a strong bond with Kerr, which could serve as a bonus factor when formal contract talks begin.

Additionally, the uncertainty of the signing timeline presents another major challenge. James stated on his personal podcast that he will carefully consider his free-agent decision, and the timing could drag into late July or even August.

Such a timeline puts the Warriors in a dilemma: either hold onto the mid-level exception and wait for James, or use it early to sign someone else and risk missing out on the chance to bring in LeBron.