For the second straight season, the Golden State Warriors are at least keeping the door open for LeBron James if he were to consider leaving the Los Angeles Lakers.

On Wednesday's episode of Get Up, ESPN's Brian Windhorst explained the Warriors will "definitely monitor" James' status in the unlikely event he desires a trade:

"The Warriors have dreamed of pairing LeBron with Steph Curry and Draymond Green since last year. They've made an inquiry and it got shut down last February. That was before LeBron played with Steve Kerr and Steph Curry and won the gold medal over the summer. So, they will definitely monitor the situation, and I don't think they do anything without knowing this door is locked, but I would just say with LeBron, it's up to him. He has a no-trade clause and he has given no indication he wants the Lakers to do anything but upgrade the roster they've got, not that he wants to go anywhere."

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne reported in February that the Warriors called the Lakers in an attempt to present a trade package for the future Hall of Famer.

Talks never went anywhere because neither the Lakers nor James were willing to explore a trade, but Warriors governor Joe Lacob made the call amid "encouragement" from Draymond Green.

After James and Stephen Curry played together on Team USA at the Olympics this summer, fans at least started to speculate about the possibility of them teaming up in the NBA.

Asked about that possibility during training camp in October, James didn't give a definitive answer even though he didn't totally dismiss it either.

For someone who is as calculated as James is with what he says publicly, him saying "I have no idea" about potentially playing with Curry rather than something like "no" or "probably not" given the contract status for both players at least adds some intrigue.

James got a full no-trade clause from the Lakers in the two-year, $101.4 million contract he signed in the offseason. It's always felt like he was going to end his career in Los Angeles since originally joining the team in the summer of 2018.

As the Lakers have fallen to eighth in the Western Conference standings thanks to losing seven of their last nine games, perhaps James will get to a point where he wants to see if there is a situation better suited to challenging for a title with his career getting closer to a conclusion.

The Warriors have an elite defense that ranks fourth in rating, but their offense is just 14th this season. Jonathan Kuminga has been a disappointment so far after a breakout 2023-24 campaign. De'Anthony Melton is out for the year due to an ACL injury that required surgery.

All of the depth that Golden State was being praised for accruing during the summer is starting to erode, leaving Curry and Green to carry a heavy burden going forward.

James would give the Warriors more scoring punch with that duo, but the odds of him or the Lakers even exploring a trade at this point seem remote.