With the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors failing to make it past the first round of the NBA playoffs, changes could be on the horizon for both teams. In a “weird” proposed deal from Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report, the Warriors would switch things up in a big way. The proposed trade would pair LeBron James with Stephen Curry, forming a duo of arguably the two best players of this generation.
The full deal sends the Warriors Jarred Vanderbilt and James. In return, the Lakers would receive Chris Paul, Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, a 2026 first-round pick, a 2028 first-round pick and a 2029 first-round pick swap
“The foundation of this deal at least makes sense. The Lakers could kick off a rebuild with more high-upside draft assets (given the ages of Stephen Curry and LeBron) and at least one young player with star potential.
“Meanwhile, Golden State would have the two faces of this generation in the same lineup. Both are past their primes, but they played at an All-NBA level this season,” Bailey wrote in his April 30 column exploring offseason trades for the Lakers. “It’s not hard to see how their games would mesh, especially if LeBron keeps shooting like he did in 2023-24, when he made a career-high 41.0 percent of his threes.”
While the Warriors would be moving a young talent in Kuminga and two first-round picks plus a first-round pick swap, Bailey wrote that despite their title window being short if they made this move, the Warriors could win a title if they both played how they did in the 2023-24 season.
“Though the Warriors’ potential contention window wouldn’t be open for long, it’d be wide open if both James and Curry played like they did in 2023-24,” Bailey wrote.
Warriors Attempted to Trade for LeBron James
The Golden State Warriors attempted to pair James and Curry together during the trade deadline, but the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t have any interest in trading the all-time leading scorer.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, James or the Lakers didn’t want to explore a potential blockbuster trade during the season.
“The Warriors were eager to present a package deal to L.A., but neither the Lakers nor James were willing to explore a potential blockbuster,” Shelburne wrote on February 14. “Even at 39 years old, James is still playing at an All-NBA level that stirred the Warriors’ imagination about his ability to extend the window of the franchise’s fading dynasty.”
After the report came out from ESPN, James was asked if he heard about the trade rumors.
“It [the trade talks] didn’t go far at all,” James said on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” broadcast. “I actually heard about it when everybody else heard about it. Obviously, you know, Charles [Barkley] has been in the league, Kenny [Smith] has been in the league, Shaq has been in the league… and sometimes, there’s conversations that happen behind closed doors that you don’t even know about.”
How James Would Help the Warriors
James will turn 40 in December of the 2024-25 season, but his production hasn’t slowed down. In his age-39 season, the 20-time All-Star averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 8.3 assists. James also shot an impressive 54.0% from the field and 41.0% from three-point range.
Joining the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, James has averaged at least 25 points in each season. However, this was the first time in his career that he ever shot over 40.6% from three-point range.
Curry averaged 26.4 points per game for the Golden State Warriors this season. His 4.5 rebounds were the lowest of his career since 2012-13 and his 5.1 assists were the lowest in his career. However, he still shot over 40.0% from three-point range on 11.8 attempts per game.
Pairing James and Curry would bring excitement and should help improve a Warriors team that finished 10th in the Western Conference.
