The Golden State Warriors made headlines this past trade deadline when it was reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne that they contacted the Los Angeles Lakers about a LeBron James trade. While nothing materialized, it is reasonable to assume the Warriors would still be open to the possibility.
In a recent article from Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz, James was named as Golden State’s “dream” trade target. While this is an opinion piece as opposed to reporting on Golden State’s level of interest, the fit would be interesting if certain developments took place this summer.
On a possible James to the Warriors deal, Swartz wrote, “After a disappointing first-round exit, would James be more open to joining Stephen Curry and Draymond Green in Golden State? James would need to pick up his $51.4 million player option to execute a trade. The Warriors could get to $51 million in salary by packaging Jonathan Kuminga, Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II, and Kevin Looney or use Chris Paul’s expiring $30 million deal to help facilitate a deal.”
As Swartz alludes to here, it was James who reportedly shut down the possibility of joining Golden State last season, as he was happy in Los Angeles, but perhaps that could change if the Lakers are unable to improve their roster this summer to the degree necessary to contend.
