Why the Warriors Do It

The Warriors tried to acquire LeBron at the 2024 trade deadline, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramon Shelburne. Why not give it another go?

I mean, hell, he's doing the whole dramatically-cryptic-tweeting thing again! Managing team governor Joe Lacob has designs on entirely exiting the luxury tax next season, but you couch that aim when you have the chance to pair LeBron with Stephen Curry and generate an infinite amount of revenue. Golden State can try negotiating a more favorable opportunity cost if it's feeling heat-checky. After all, these talks only transpire if LeBron leverages the Lakers into a trade.

But the Warriors aren't surviving such a blockbuster with Kuminga or Podz still on the roster. They should consider themselves lucky that LeBron's clout might spare them from adding in Moses Moody and Trayce Jackson-Davis. And if Golden State has to include either or both, it should.

I don't care that LeBron is about to turn 40. He's still LeBron—one of the veeery few players with the juice to reopen the Dubs' title window.

For salary-cap dorks like myself: Yes, this trade is legal. Golden State doesn't have to worry about brushing up against the second apron and its aggregation constraints if it waives Chris Paul's non-guaranteed salary. (Fun subplot: Would he re-sign at the minimum to play with his buddy LBJ?)

Since the Warriors are sending out more than $47 million as part of this package, they shouldn't have any issue squeezing Klay Thompson into a tighter payroll. That maneuvering would only get easier if the Lakers took on Gary Payton II (player option), though his defensive portability would have value to Golden State following the departures of Kuminga and Wiggins.

Why the Lakers Do It

Because LeBron asks them to—super nicely or ultra-aggressively.

That's it. There's no other reason. Shopping LeBron around the league is counterintuitive to both winning and making money. You only trade him because he's on the verge of free agency and wants out, and you're only sending him to where he wishes to go as a result.

L.A. would have awkward questions to answer after making a deal like this. Chief among them: Is moving Anthony Davis next? Or can the front office recalibrate the roster around him?

Accepting this package, while hardly ideal, at least would provide the Lakers with a baseline. Kuminga (extension-eligible) and Podz are hyper-intriguing prospects who are capable of making immediate impacts. Between them and a handful of additional first-rounders, L.A. would have the ammo to begin anew or try swinging a blockbuster that nabs Davis another co-star.

If this season is any indication, Looney's utility is in free fall. That's fine. He'll be on an expiring contract. The three years and $84.7 million still owed to Wiggins are more of a hangup. Then again, he'd instantly be the best three-and-D option the Lakers have had since Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.