Hawks GM Says LeBron James Likely Leaked Warriors Free Agency Rumor Himself

Chris Haynes of ESPN.com reported on Thursday LeBron James would meet with the Golden State Warriors this offseason if he enters free agency and they clear out the space needed for a max salary, but Atlanta Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk thinks the player himself was behind the story. 

Schlenk—who used to be an assistant general manager with the Warriors—said as much on 92.9 The Game, via CBS Atlanta (h/t Dan Feldman of NBC Sports):

"I would be really, really surprised if LeBron went to Golden State.

"The one thing I will say about Mr. James: He is the master at using the media to get whatever story he wants out there. He’s perfected the art of the social-media game. I think that those things were probably leaked by them, by Mr. James and his camp.

"I don’t see a universe where that happens.

"It would be interesting to see. It would be interesting to see what he’d be like with the rest of those guys, with his playmaking ability and obviously with the shooting that Golden State has." 

Feldman agreed with Schlenk's assessment, suggesting James leaked the story in an effort to convince the Cavaliers to spend more to bolster the supporting cast around him.

Bill Simmons of The Ringer also called it a "plant by LeBron's camp":

The notion of James pressuring the Cavaliers front office to make a move by leaking the possibility of him joining the team that beat them in last year's Finals is interesting juxtaposed against the Tuesday report from Jason Lloyd of The Athletic.

Lloyd said there is a "widening" gap between James and the team, and he has "no relationship" with owner Dan Gilbert or general manager Koby Altman. He also said the front office has moved away from taking James' suggestions when it comes to personnel moves.

A move to the Warriors may look great to James given the Cavs recent woes. Cleveland is just 6-12 in its last 18 games and is an atrocious 28th in the league in defensive rating, per NBA.com.

What's more, Kevin Love is out with a broken hand, and Zach Lowe of ESPN.com cited league sources when reporting the Cavaliers are "acting as if they are not going to trade the Nets pick" to potentially improve the team down the stretch run.

As for Golden State, it has won two of the last three titles and owns the league's best record this season at 41-12. Adding James to a core also featuring Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant seems borderline unfair, but to hear Schlenk say it the rest of the league probably doesn't have to worry about that.