Nick Wright isn’t buying the Warriors’ approach if their LeBron James pursuit falls apart.
Golden State has kept showing up in the LeBron sweepstakes ever since it became clear he won’t be back with the Lakers, but ESPN’s Anthony Slater said the bigger picture in the building may be shifting. If the Warriors miss on James, Slater reported, they could pivot toward the post-Stephen Curry era instead of making the kind of win-now moves that would squeeze the last championship push out of Curry’s current window.
That idea clearly rubbed Wright the wrong way. On the July 23 episode of his podcast, “What’s Wright?”, the Fox Sports host said he understood why the Warriors would chase James, but he tore into the notion that the franchise would be thinking about life after Curry instead of going all-in around him.
“All right, so the Warriors, which at one point in time, I think I said I wanted, I didn’t want him to go there, then I did want him to go there. If they had been able to swing a trade for Anthony Davis, then it makes a little more sense,” said Wright as he began speaking about the Warriors as a potential landing spot for James.
He then laid out why a LeBron-Curry pairing would still be dangerous, while also pointing to the age and injury concerns around the rest of the roster.
“As presently constituted, if they were to add LeBron James, they would obviously be a team that you would hate to play in a series. But also a team with Kristaps and Steph coming off an injury-riddled season and Horford at 40 and Jimmy Butler coming off an ACL and Draymond at, I think, 36. And LeBron at 42, that it would be very difficult to see how they can win four straight series.”
Wright also said he enjoyed seeing James and Curry together in the Olympics, even if the fit would feel strange in the NBA.
“And I really did enjoy seeing LeBron and Steph play together in the Olympics, and we know that works. But I understand folks who feel like it would just be weird,” Wright added.
He then said he could understand any family considerations that might point James toward San Francisco, but from a basketball standpoint, he wanted no part of the idea.
“Now, what I said at the front end is that if I can’t figure out how, you know, where LeBron’s wife and daughter want him to go and if the fact that San Francisco is the easiest flight and it would be the least disruptive to his family plays a large factor in it, then God bless. Salute.
Like I totally understand it. But from a basketball perspective, I like it the least.”
The sharpest criticism came when Wright turned to Slater’s comments about the Warriors’ fallback plan. Slater said on NBA Today that the organization has kept its books clean, preserved draft picks, and is thinking about the post-Steph future.
“Which brings me to Anthony Slater, who on NBA Today was asked what the Warriors’ plan B without LeBron is. And he said, “Boring.
I think a stable. A part of the Warriors’ long-term plan is post-Steph right now; it’s not really about the next couple of years.
Think about the way they’ve kept their books clean; they have a lot of optionality, they’ve kept their draft picks.'”
Wright said that kind of thinking should anger Curry fans.
“I am here to tell you, and I am consistent on this, and Steph fans, many of whom can’t stand me. I’m your biggest ally on this one. You should be beside yourself that they have not done everything they can to maximize the end of Steph Curry,” said Wright while criticizing the Warriors’ plan B.
He pointed to Curry’s recent level of play as evidence that Golden State still has time to chase another title with him.
“He was an All-NBA level player two years ago; he has obviously- hell, he was an All-NBA third team, All-NBA player three years ago. Um, this year the reason he wasn’t an All-NBA guy was because of the injury, didn’t play enough games.”
Wright added that Curry is still one of the league’s best players and remains a nightmare in the right setting.
“Like a lot of the older legends. Yes, he does not have as much of an impact on winning as he once did, but he is still, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the 20 best players in the league.”
“And if you get him in the right spot, one of the 10 scariest playoff guys in the league. And for the Warriors to be focused on and worried about and thinking about their post-Steph life, it’s just abominable,” Wright concluded.
The Warriors are still hoping to land James, and if that happens, Curry could get another real shot at a championship in royal blue and gold. But if James signs elsewhere, Curry’s place in the franchise picture could start to look a lot less certain, especially with the veteran guard still wanting to compete for titles.
That leaves Golden State with a choice that could define what comes next: stay locked in on Curry’s championship window, or start preparing for what comes after it.
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The Warriors are still expected to bring back Draymond Green, and Gary Payton II remains in line for serious consideration as one of the remaining roster spots. Beyond that, the list of realistic free-agent paths is getting thinner, with DeMar DeRozan and Brandon Williams among the names still tied to Golden State as the team tries to fill out the roster without losing the shape of what it wants to be. [Read more 🡒]