LeBron James and Stephen Curry may be the elder statesmen of the league, but they’re still in the prime of their careers. They showed how dangerous they can be as teammates when they led Team USA to an Olympic gold medal.

Their success certainly raises the question of whether such a combination is viable in the NBA.

It sounds like science fiction, but there are technically ways to make it happen. The Warriors experimented with a LeBron trade last offseason before ultimately rejecting it. And the Lakers would obviously love to have a player like Curry on their roster.

How LeBron James and Stephen Curry Could Be NBA Teammates

A Lakers trade for Stephen Curry

Is there any way to get Curry to the Lakers? The salary cap rules would make it difficult.

Curry is owed $55.7 million this season and the Lakers are in dire straits, meaning they won’t be able to get any more money in a Curry trade.

To meet Curry’s $56 million salary while keeping James and Anthony Davis on the roster would require a lot of players. The Warriors would also demand almost everything the Lakers have to offer, including unprotected first-round picks in 2029 and 2031.

What would that deal look like:

This is the most plausible version of a Curry-to-Lakers trade, but there are several hurdles that make it unlikely to happen.

First, the Lakers will trade most of their key players. They will only have veteran minimum contracts to fill many of their roster spots, and most of their decent players are signed by this point in the summer. They will have a lot of top talent, but they will be mortgaging their futures to a team that may not even be good enough to make a deep playoff run.

Second, would the Warriors do this? This would signal a complete rebuild for them, and honestly, that package still isn’t worth it for a player like Curry.

The two Laker picks could be good, and Reaves is a good prospect. The Warriors could trade Russell and Hachimura for more picks. Knecht is a strong value pick for the Lakers in this draft at No. 17. But if Golden State opens the bidding on Curry, they could get a better offer from another team.

A Warriors trade for LeBron James

The more likely path for Curry and James to get together is for them to play together in the Bay Area.

That deal would have been much easier to pull off at last season’s trade deadline when the Warriors had multiple high-salary expiring contracts in Chris Paul and Klay Thompson to include in a deal. Now, they ‘ll have to get multiple players involved to make it happen

This is the Warriors’ best package yet. It includes both of their tradeable first-round picks, two of their best young prospects in Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski, another good prospect in Trayce Jackson-Davis, and salary cap fillers in Andrew Wiggins and Gary Payton II.

This deal makes sense for the Lakers. They aren’t good enough to win the West, and it would help them quickly rebuild around Davis with plenty of young players, picks, and future salary flexibility.