Kawakami: Waiting for LeBron — Moody in limbo, Porzingis staying, and more - The San Francisco Standard

Sketching out some thoughts and notes on the margins as everybody waits for LeBron James’ latest and probably last momentous free-agent decision … • First, let’s just say it: LeBron is going to operate on his own time and has absolutely earned the right to do it any which way and on any sort of deadline that he wishes. Particularly this time, because LeBron entered this market understanding that, once he walked away from the Lakers, no likely bidder could offer him more than the $15 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception. If you’re the Warriors or any of the other handful of top suitors, you certainly aren’t barking for him to hurry up. You actually don’t really need him to hurry up that much. By accepting this limited field of options, it’s probable that LeBron is prepared to fit his salary to the needs of his chosen team. That’s good and bad news for the Warriors, by the way. Good, because they can access the NTPMLE with some maneuvering but wouldn’t have to sweat every dollar of space for this. Bad, because it increases the odds of a LeBron third stint with the Cavaliers, who might find it very difficult to access the NTPMLE and might have to offer much less. I’ve heard this posited around the league: If LeBron wants to come to your team, money won’t be a deal breaker. That means that the Warriors, Cavaliers, Heat, and whoever else can mostly go about their normal offseason business without having to freeze everything and wait for him. • No official timetable, but for at least a month, I’ve been circling Friday or Saturday for this conclusion. That’s mostly based on my recollection of Kevin Durant announcing his decision to sign with the Warriors on July 4, 2016 … and just a general sense that, even if LeBron is determined to be methodical about this, he probably will have more than enough information by this weekend. Also, LeBron will want his new team to get every major and minor benefit of his arrival — such as giving his new team as much time to add an interesting free agent or two who might want to take below-market deals to join the 2026-27 festivities. • Whether or not they land LeBron — and I currently still give the Warriors a 51/49 favorite lean vs. the field — it’s seeming likelier and likelier that Moses Moody might have to be moved to create cap flexibility for the coming moves. I don’t believe the Warriors’ front office is thrilled about this. I can guarantee that Steve Kerr hates the idea of losing one of his favorite players. But Moody has a $12.5 million salary for this season and he might not fully recover from his torn patellar tendon until the start of 2027-28. As tight as the Warriors are likely to be against the various luxury-tax and first-apron lines in the coming days and knowing that they’re already carrying Jimmy Butler’s $56.8 million salary through continued rehabilitation, it’s hard to see how the Warriors can do much adding without first subtracting Moody’s contract. I went into the free-agent period believing the Warriors might have to attach future second-round picks to get off of Moody’s salary but have heard lately that there are teams expressing interest in him. He’s still only 24, is on a good contract ($13.4 million next season), and has already proven that he’s extremely coachable and can be an excellent 3-and-D depth piece. Which, of course, is why the Warriors wouldn’t want to trade him. But they might have to. • Kristaps Porzingis’ new, very-low-guarantee two-year deal was, as others have pointed out, clearly constructed to be quite tradeable at some point. But it’d be odd to sign a starting center then discard him just days or weeks later. And I’m told that the Warriors didn’t sign this deal just to move Porzingis this cycle. That doesn’t mean Porzingis won’t be a juicy trade candidate at the February deadline or more likely next offseason — and I believe Porzingis signed the deal knowing this. But I don’t see it happening this summer. Plus, if the Warriors deleted Porzingis from their depth chart, guess what? They’d suddenly need another starting center. Who are not cheap. • The word I’m hearing about Draymond Green’s contractual situation with the Warriors after he declined his $27.6 million player option is “flexible.” There’s no question that he’ll be back with the Warriors this season, almost certainly on a multiyear deal at a lower annual value. That part is not flexible. It’s decided. But the exact starting salary hasn’t been settled because Draymond is willing to adjust the number based on other events this cycle. Does that sound a little bit like LeBron’s approach to the entire set of negotiations? I don’t think that’s wholly coincidental — they’re both represented by Rich Paul and it’s pretty clear that Draymond is going through this process in part to clear a payroll spot for LeBron. If that’s what LeBron wants. • So who’s left for the Warriors to fill out this roster? They need backups that might ride the bench if all the main guys are playing but also be ready to play big minutes in all the games the old guys miss. And … there weren’t a lot of those guys available at the start of free agency earlier this week, and there sure aren’t a lot now. I had Anfernee Simons as a top option, but he just agreed to a relatively discounted deal with the 76ers. I think the Warriors were interested, but signing at such a low number (reportedly two years, $12.3 million with a player option) indicates that Simons sure wasn’t waiting for a Warriors offer. I also wondered about Tobias Harris, but he recently signed with San Antonio. So … how about Jonathan Kuminga? I kid, I kid. Rui Hachimura? Bennedict Mathurin as a restricted free agent? No, none of those seem like great fits. I’ll toss out two lower-end options possibly gettable at the veteran minimum: Gary Trent Jr. and Ziaire Williams. • We can go through all the first-apron, second-apron, hard cap, not-hard-cap stuff; and I did a bit Thursday morning on X. Yes, it gave me a headache. Yes, I think I’ve got it figured out now. Maybe. Every dollar is going to count. Every salary-cap rule is blaring at them in neon. But LeBron’s money-isn’t-the-issue approach to this makes the complications kind of moot. If he wants to sign with the Warriors, things can and will be worked out — which is exactly how a seasoned NBA person described it to me last week. I should’ve just listened!