‘Blockbuster’ Trade Proposal Sends LeBron James To Warriors

One NBA writer proposed that the Golden State Warriors acquire LeBron James from the Los Angeles Lakers. 

Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report proposed the following mock trade between the Warriors and Lakers:

The Golden State Warriors acquire LeBron James* from the Los Angeles Lakers for Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Kevon Looney, 2026 first-round pick, 2028 first-round pick, 2030 first-round pick (1-20)

LeBron has a no-trade clause in his contract, so he would have to request a trade to the Warriors for this deal to happen. 

Golden State tried to acquire LeBron last season. 

“The cost here is exorbitant, especially considering James is entering his age-40 season,” Hughes wrote. “Golden State is giving up all of the first-round equity it has left (swaps excluded) along with a potential star in Kuminga. And yet it still seems as if the Lakers would only consider taking back a package like this if James expressly demanded to be traded.

“It’s not even clear this move would vault the Warriors into the top tier of contenders. A potential starting quartet of Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, James and Draymond Green would certainly be intriguing, but the Dubs would be woefully short on the wings they’d need for a deep playoff run. That’s to say nothing of the collective injury risk of a core with as many miles on its tires as this one. Ultimately, it’d still be hard to bet against the James-Curry combo. Their work during Team USA’s run to gold in Paris was proof of concept.”

Curry and LeBron became close friends during the Paris Olympics. Curry told Natasha Dye of PEOPLE that it was a great experience playing with LeBron on Team USA. 

“All the battles we’ve had on the court and the back and forth, the fact that we actually got to be teammates, not just in any game like an All-Star game or whatever, but in high stakes basketball with a lot on the line…I think there’s a deepened respect and friendship there,” Curry said. “Hopefully, there will be more experiences in the future, even if we’re teammates or not.”

LeBron and Curry have combined to win eight championships, six MVPs and five Finals MVPs. They both will be in the Hall of Fame one day. 

LeBron is arguably the greatest player in NBA history, while Curry is the best shooter of all time.

The Warriors would be title contenders with LeBron and Curry leading the way. 

The leading scorer in NBA history, LeBron averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.5 blocks for the Lakers last season while shooting 54.0% from the field, 41.0% from 3 and 75.0% from the free-throw line. He’s still an elite force despite being close to 40.