What would it take for the Warriors to sign LeBron James this offseason?

After falling short against the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference quarterfinals, the Los Angeles Lakers may need to prepare for life without LeBron James.

James is expected to decline his player option and return to free agency for the first time since 2018.

Several teams will come calling for James's services this summer, including the Lakers. But there is another Western Conference team that could benefit from having him around, and that is the Golden State Warriors.

Golden State fell short in the Play-In Tournament against the Sacramento Kings and ultimately missed the playoffs as a result. So, they'll need to add some pieces if they want to return to championship caliber status.

Acquiring James will be no easy task but LeBron has a strong friendship with Steph Curry and Draymond Green and Warriors fans are already pushing hard for the Warriors to make a play. So how will the Warriors go about signing him if they choose to go that route?

How can the Warriors sign LeBron?

The Warriors will certainly have to clear up some cap space this offseason if they want to make a run at LeBron. He won't come cheap and a two-year deal at $104 million is a hypothetical recently floated by ESPN. But how will the Warriors do this?

For starters, they may have to say goodbye to some friendly faces. Klay Thompson is a free agent, and in order to have enough cap space to sign somebody like James, they'll likely have to bid farewell to the four-time NBA champion.

Another player they likely will have to bid farewell to is Chris Paul. The team acquired him for Jordan Poole prior to the start of the season, and in 58 games, Paul averaged 9.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 6.8 assists while shooting 44.1 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from beyond the arc.

The veteran point guard has a $30 million club option on his contract, and in order to have enough room to sign James, Golden State will likely have to decline that option, which would make him a free agent.

But even that may not be enough. It's possible they also have to find a way to clear the salaries of Andrew Wiggins and or Kevon Looney from their books and then look to fill out the rest of their roster with veteran minimum deals. The easiest way to get it all done would be to arrange a sign-and-trade but the Lakers may have a hard time swallowing.

If the Warriors do sign LeBron, they would stick a dagger in the hearts of the Lakers and gain a significant edge in the rivalry, unless Los Angeles countered with a big offseason move of their own, which is very possible. However, Brian Windhorst of ESPN thinks that LeBron signing with the Warriors is unlikely, simply because of the salary.

If they clear some space though, it's always possible. We'll see what happens with James in free agency should he decline his option with the Lakers.