Updated

Updated · Bleacher Report · Jun 29

Porzingis Signs 2-Year, $40 Million Warriors Deal as LeBron Pursuit Faces Cap Squeeze

Updated

Updated · Bleacher Report · Jun 29

Porzingis Signs 2-Year, $40 Million Warriors Deal as LeBron Pursuit Faces Cap Squeeze

Q: With their main salary exception gone, what creative trade is the Warriors' only path to acquiring another superstar?

The Warriors’ only realistic path is a salary-matching blockbuster trade, most likely built around Jimmy Butler’s expiring contract. With Porzingis re-signed using Bird rights, Golden State is no longer positioned to meaningfully use the $15 million non-tax midlevel exception without running into first-apron constraints. That removes the cleanest route to adding another star through free agency and leaves a trade as the practical alternative. The clearest version of that trade is Butler for Anthony Davis, with draft compensation and possibly smaller contracts attached to satisfy league trade rules. Butler’s $56.8 million expiring deal is the key mechanism because it is large enough to closely match Davis’s $58.4 million salary. The reporting around Golden State’s cap situation points to this as the only workable superstar path now that the main exception is effectively off the table. Draymond Green’s opt-out could still help at the margins if he re-signs at a lower starting salary, but that alone does not create enough room to sign a superstar outright. It mainly helps the Warriors stay below apron thresholds while structuring a larger trade. So the “creative” move is not a cap-space signing. It is a star-for-star swap, most plausibly sending Butler out to bring Davis in, while preserving Stephen Curry and likely keeping Green as part of the core. Without that kind of deal, Golden State’s superstar chase appears severely limited.

Q: By re-signing Porzingis, have the Warriors sacrificed their dream of uniting LeBron James with Stephen Curry this offseason?

Not entirely, but it has made the path much harder. Porzingis’s two-year, $40 million return gives Golden State a player it values at a manageable price, yet it also appears to cost the Warriors their clearest mechanism for signing LeBron James: the $15 million non-tax mid-level exception. ESPN’s Bobby Marks reported that Porzingis’s deal likely prevents Golden State from using that exception, which had been viewed as a key route to adding James if he were willing to take less than a maximum salary. That does not mean the idea is dead. Reporting around the league still suggests there are theoretical paths to create room for James, especially if more salary is moved or if multiple veterans take discounts. But those paths are far more complicated than they were before Porzingis re-signed, and they would likely require additional roster reshaping rather than a straightforward free-agent signing. The broader reporting also indicates Porzingis was always a likely casualty in any true LeBron-Anthony Davis pursuit. In other words, keeping him signals that Golden State may be prioritizing a realistic win-now roster around Stephen Curry over an all-in gamble on a blockbuster reunion. So the Warriors have not definitively sacrificed the dream, but they have significantly weakened their chances. Re-signing Porzingis looks less like a setup for landing LeBron and more like a sign that Golden State is choosing stability unless a more creative, difficult deal emerges.

3 articles · Updated · Bleacher Report · Jun 29

The 30-year-old big man agreed to stay in Golden State on a two-year, $40 million contract after the Warriors pushed to retain him at a team-friendly price.
That deal likely wipes out the Warriors' $15 million non-tax mid-level exception, creating a new obstacle as rumors link Golden State to LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Draymond Green recently declined his $27.7 million player option to help open cap space, while James and the Lakers reportedly have not made progress on a new agreement before Tuesday's free-agent window.
Porzingis joined the Warriors in February in the Jonathan Kuminga trade and averaged 16.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 15 games, though he played only 32 games all season.
Golden State is trying to rebound from a 37-45 season that ended outside the playoffs for the second time in three years as Stephen Curry battled injuries.