The Lakers’ latest move may have quietly handed the Warriors a cleaner path to Bruce Brown.
Golden State’s offseason has been stuck in neutral while the NBA waits on LeBron James, and that delay has kept a lot of veteran-market business on hold. The Warriors are still trying to piece together a roster that can lean on experienced help, and even if James ends up in Golden State for 2026-27, their options this summer won’t exactly be endless. A reunion with Gary Payton II could still be in play, but the bigger picture remains the same: this is a team that needs dependable, available pieces around an aging core.
Los Angeles is dealing with its own waiting game, with the Lakers still looking for a decision from the Atlanta Hawks on Jonathan Kuminga. They’ve shown interest in a sign-and-trade for the young forward, and that would force them to clear salary from the roster they already have. That’s where the ripple effect starts to matter for Golden State.
The Lakers added Ziaire Williams on a one-year, $3 million deal yesterday, and that signing matters because it fills a wing spot they badly needed. Even after the flurry of additions that followed James’ departure, Los Angeles was still thin on the wings and in the frontcourt.
Williams helps there. But it also makes Bruce Brown look less like a Lakers safety net and more like a player who could slip elsewhere.
Brown had been a logical fallback option for Los Angeles, especially with the futures of Jarred Vanderbilt and Dalton Knecht still unsettled. The Lakers have had interest in Brown going back to the 2023-24 season, when he signed with the Indiana Pacers, so the fit was never hard to imagine.
But with Williams now in the fold, that path is closed for the moment. All 15 roster spots are filled, and that gives the Warriors a little more room to work.
Brown would make sense in Golden State. He just finished a strong season with the Denver Nuggets, playing all 82 games and averaging 7.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists while shooting 38.5% from three. That came after he dealt with major injury issues between 2023-24 and 2024-25, which makes the rebound even more notable.
There’s still a chance Brown stays in Denver. The Nuggets have three roster spots to fill and more than $8 million separating them from the first apron. But if he does hit the market, the Warriors may now have a clearer lane to chase him on a veteran minimum deal once the James situation finally gets resolved.
For now, the Lakers have taken care of their backup plan for Kuminga. In the process, they may have left Brown available for Golden State to grab first.
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Memphis had the cleaner offensive night, led by Javon Smalls 26 points and supported by Brendan Hausens 20 off the bench, while Golden State spent much of the game trying to answer a scoring burst it could not quite match. The Warriors now turn to the New York Knicks in their next tournament game, with a chance to reset quickly and see whether the loss was just a stumble or a sign that the margin gets tighter from here. [Read more 🡒]