How the Warriors can pull off LeBron James, Anthony Davis coup after signing Kristaps Porziņģis
Unless you were under a rock on Monday, you know by now that the Golden State Warriors are making a real run at LeBron James and Anthony Davis -- a coup that became all the more plausible, if not probable, the second the news broke that Draymond Green declined his $27.7 million player option for the 2026-27 season.
Why is that important? Because now Green can sign a contract that pays him more over the long term but less than the $27 million annually, with any savings able to be redirected to LeBron as they aim to get him at a $15 million annual number to fit into the non-taxpayer midlevel exception slot.
It's a tight fit because to pay out the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, your total team salary cannot exceed the first-apron line, so when news broke that the Warriors re-signed Kristaps Porziņģis to a two-year, $40 million deal, it became a question of whether Golden State could make the math work.
The answer is yes ... with a possible Moses Moody caveat.
How the Warriors can create money for LeBron and Draymond
As noted by salary-cap guru Yossi Goslan, who hosts the Third Apron podcast with CBS Sports' Sam Quinn, the Warriors are currently $32.5 million beneath the first apron with $176.5 million devoted to the following 10 players: Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, Porziņģis, Al Horford, Moses Moody, Brandon Podziemski, Gui Santos, Will Richard, first-round pick Yaxel Lendeborg and second-round pick Lajae Jones.
You have to roster a minimum of 14 players, meaning the Warriors would have to add four more players for less than that $32.5M number. So let's do some math. Let's say the Warriors give LeBron the $15.1 million NTMLE. That's 11 players with $17.4 million left to pay Green and two more veteran-minimum deals at $2.4M each. So Green takes a little over $12 million in the first year with the max 8% increases -- let's say a three-year deal for around $40 million, just for argument's sake -- and the math works.
Would Green accept that low a salary? Maybe. But he wouldn't have to if the Warriors moved off some other money. Which is where Moody comes in. Moody is on the books for $12.5 million next season, which he isn't likely to participate in as he recovers from a horrific knee injury. That money could be absorbed into someone else's midlevel exception or cap space, or the Warriors could trade for a less expensive player with each dollar saved able to be routed to Green.
If the Warriors incentivized a team to take Moody into their space by attaching a future draft pick, his full $12.5M goes off the books and could be replaced by a vet minimum to fill the roster spot. That's north of $10M extra the Warriors would have to give to Green or split between him and James.
But wait, that doesn't include Anthony Davis. How do they get him? From a money standpoint, that part's easy. They trade Jimmy Butler's $56.8 million next season for Davis' $58.5 million. The Warriors would have to absorb the extra $1.5 million on Davis' deal, and that would count toward this final number they're trying to stay under, so in the event of a Moody trade they would now have about $8.5 million more to give Green in the first year.
That would take him up near $20 million annually, the same deal that Porziņģis just got. That seems reasonable, but again it would necessitate trading Moody without taking the same, or preferably any, money back. It's not a huge task if the Warriors will attach a pick. Then they attach more picks to get Davis. And they sign LeBron into the NTMLE, and we've got a deal.
So... will it happen?
Obviously, it won't be as easy as that sounds, but there are a lot of ways to skin this cat. Hell, LeBron could just say I'll play for $10 million next season if Draymond wants a little more, or they could give either one of them a low first-year salary with a player option in Year 2 that they can opt out next summer and then potentially re-sign for more.
The point is, the math on the Warriors pulling off this LeBron-AD coup is still very much viable. It's a little bit trickier after the Porziņģis deal, but if you think the Warriors aren't well aware of the number it would take to re-sign Green and still have a satisfactory amount left for LeBron, and didn't factor that in before they handed that deal to Porziņģis, you're wrong.
Everyone with a card in this hand knows pretty much exactly what it would take to make this work, and if they didn't think it could happen, Green wouldn't have opted out, and the Warriors would not have signed Porziņģis yet.
It doesn't mean it's going to happen. LeBron is reportedly meeting with the Lakers on Tuesday, and if he signs with them because they ultimately decide to give him more money than the Warriors can, this whole thing goes away. But in the event that doesn't happen, yes, the Warriors are still very much in this game.
Add CBS Sports on GoogleSara Foster Explains Why She’s Still Living With Ex Tommy Haas 2 Years After Split
Sara Foster and Tommy Haas are still living together nearly two years after their split.
“It’s such an interesting [thing],” Foster, 45, said during the Tuesday, June 30, episode of Kristin Cavallari’s “Let’s Be Honest” podcast. “I’m not dating. I mean, I’m sure he is.”
Foster explained that Haas, 48, is a Florida resident and is “always on the road” because of his career as a retired tennis player. He also isn’t the biggest fan of Los Angeles.
“His comfort level is being on the road,” Foster continued. “We have breakfast when he’s in town. We have breakfast and dinner with our kids every day. … It’s not for everybody.”
Related: Sara Foster Addresses Split From Tommy Haas — Sort Of
Sara Foster is not ready to share the details of her separation from longtime love Tommy Haas. Foster, 43, opened up her Instagram DMs for a fan Q&A on Wednesday, September 24, and received a message about her split from one bold follower. “You owe your longtime listeners a discussion about your separation,” the social […]News broke in August 2024 that Foster and Haas had split after nearly 20 years together. They never wed but are the parents of daughters Valentina, 15, and Josephine, 10.
“There’s something to be said about slowly transitioning,” Foster said. “Nothing crazy happened. I think you, kind of, grow differently.”
She added, “I remember, I feel like he looked at me once, and I was like, ‘Oh, he does not respect me anymore.’ Once you can see someone looking at you with a certain eye, you’re kind of like, ‘Oh, God.’”
Foster said there was a “collective shift” in their relationship, which eventually caused their split. Even though they’re not together romantically anymore, Foster doesn’t have a bad thing to say about her ex.
“This guy has got so much integrity. You will never meet anyone that has a bad thing to say about him,” she said. “He has real integrity. He’s not a social climber. He’s not a user. He likes who he likes, doesn’t care who you are. He really is a great guy.”
Related: Which Celebs Have Married or Dated Pro Tennis Players? A Guide
Andy Roddick and Serena Williams are just two tennis stars who’ve made headlines for their high-profile romances — and celebrity hook ups — in addition to their athletic abilities. Roddick romanced Mandy Moore in the early 2000s before he found The One in wife Brooklyn Decker. The two women, however, are both still some of […]Telling their kids became a hurdle when news of Foster and Haas’ split went public before they had the chance to discuss it.
“We had never actually sat down and been like, ‘This is how it’s gonna look, this is where I’m gonna live, this is where you’re gonna live, this is what we’re gonna do,’” she recalled. “We both, sort of, one day knew this is not what it should be anymore.”
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Deal Alert! This 44%-Off Throw-On Mini Dress Is Too Good to Leave in Your Cart View DealShe added, “Our kids don’t look at us with those eyes of, ‘This is what I hope to have one day.’ And that is not good.”
Overall, Foster wishes things went differently with her daughters.
“We didn’t handle it the way it should be handled, so I don’t even want to tell people how we handled it, because it’s not how you should handle it,” she said. “There’s been a real beauty in doing it slowly for us.”
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Ladies of London’s Misse Beqiri Recalls Telling Daughter About Ex Jake Hall’s Death: ‘Worst Thing’
Ladies of London star Misse Beqiri will never forget the day she learned of ex Jake Hall’s death.
“I remember that I kept saying, ‘There’s no way,’ and then everything went black,” Beqiri, 39, told The Sun‘s Fabulous magazine in an interview published Saturday, June 27. “I can’t remember any of it. I didn’t believe it.”
One huge obstacle Beqiri quickly thought of was how she was going to tell her daughter the news that Hall died at the age of 35. (The exes shared 8-year-old daughter River.)
“The first person I thought about was River. How can I tell her that her dad is gone?” she recalled. “I kept thinking, ‘I don’t know if I am able to do this.’”
Related: Inside Jake Hall's Relationship With ‘Ladies of London’ Star Misse Beqiri
Family and close friends are mourning the death of British reality star Jake Hall. The Only Way Is Essex star was found dead in a villa after he appeared to suffer from a fatal head wound, The Sun reported on May 7, 2026. He was 35. Police suspect he may have smashed his head through […]When she sat down with River, Beqiri called it the “worst thing I’ve ever had to do.”
“I keep thinking, ‘How is my daughter going to grow up without her dad?’” Beqiri wondered. “She won’t have him on her wedding day, or when she finishes school or does an exam. There are these big life moments where you need your dad and she won’t have that.”
River was eventually able to go back to school and remains in therapy to help process the loss. Still, her mom finds the whole situation “so much for her little brain to process.”
In early May, Hall was found dead in a villa following an accident at a house party in Majorca, Spain. An autopsy was conducted, but no cause of death was determined, per the BBC.
Days after Hall’s death made news, Beqiri broke her silence in an emotional statement.
“You will be missed. I promise to keep River safe, loved and wrapped in the kind of love you gave so effortlessly. You are at peace now,” she wrote via Instagram on May 9. “You left behind your mini version, our River, and for that we are forever grateful. You will always live on through her, and you will forever be with us.”
In her latest interview, Beqiri praised Hall’s role as a father and recalled the positive presence he had in his daughter’s life.
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Related: Celebrity Deaths of 2026: Pro Wrestler Joe Doering and More Stars We’ve Lost
Hollywood mourned the deaths of some of its most legendary stars in 2026. The year started off with Broadway performer and influencer Bret Hanna-Shuford’s death at age 46. At the end of the month, comedy acting icon Catherine O’Hara died at age 71. In February, Dawson’s Creek actor James Van Der Beek died at age […]“He had so much love for River,” she shared. “They had a beautiful relationship. That’s what breaks my heart — I know he would never want to leave her. And he will live on in her.”
As the grieving process continues, Beqiri — who shares another child with ex-husband Anders Lindegaard — knows she has to be “strong.”
“There’s been moments where I was like, ‘I mentally cannot take another thing,’” she admitted. “And then I look at my kids, and I think, ‘Yes, you can, because they need you.’”
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