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LeBron James celebrates with Stephen Curry at the end of the men’s basketball semifinal between the United States and Serbia.
Steph Curry And LeBron James just won Olympic gold for the United States men’s basketball team in Paris.
The longtime competitors have developed a close bond over the years, and now that both players are in the latter stages of their legendary careers, some are wondering what it would be like if the dynamic duo joined forces in the NBA.
Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus has put together a trade proposal for four teams would do just that – but fasten your seatbelts, because it’s a real head-scratcher. In the scenario Pincus has created, it would have to start with Curry – who has spent his entire career with Golden State Warriors — wanting to finish his playing career in Los Angeles.
“What if Curry approached the owners with a trade request to the Lakers to finish his career with James, and the Warriors were willing, perhaps out of respect for Curry, to start their restructuring early and honor his request?” Pincus wondered, before laying out the trade proposal that could make it all happen.
Four-team trade proposal sends Steph Curry to LA Lakers to team up with LeBron James
To bring Curry to Los Angeles, the Lakers would have to shed a ton of contracts. This trade proposal certainly does that. In addition to the Lakers and Warriors, Pincus has the Brooklyn Nets and the Detroit Pistons get involved in this hypothetical business scenario.
Here’s a full look at the players and draft picks involved:
- The Lakers would have: Steph Curry (from the Warriors), Jour’Ron Sharpe (of the Nets), Wendell Moore Jr. (of the Pistons) and a $3.9 million trade exception (Jalen Hood-Schifino).
- The warriors would get: Austin Reaves (via the Lakers), Ben Simmons (via Nets), 2029 unprotected first-round pick (via Lakers), 2031 unprotected first-round pick (via Lakers, $2.4 million trade exception (Curry).
- The nets would obtain: D’Angelo Russell (via the Lakers), Rui Hachimura (via the Lakers), Gabe Vincent (via Lakers), Hood-Schifino (via Lakers), $23.3 million trade exception (Simmons), $2.0 million trade exception ((Dennis Schröder).
- Pistons would receive: Schröder (via Nets), Christian Wood (by the Lakers), 2025 Los Angeles Clippers second round (via Lakers), 2025 Miami Heat second round (38-59, via the Nets), $4 million (via the Lakers).
Phew, that’s a lot. But Pincus thinks the Nets could be convinced to participate in a trade like this, in large part because it would help them get rid of Simmons. five-year contract worth $177 million.
“By helping the Lakers get Curry, the Nets get rid of Simmons’ contract, part ways with Schröder and Sharpe, but get back two of LA’s starters, Russell and Hachimura,” Pincus wrote, also highlighting why the Pistons might be interested:
“The Pistons are in the midst of a rebuild and have recently used their cap room to help others reduce their salaries (like Tim Hardaway Jr. of the Dallas Mavericks). Detroit still has about $10.2 million in cap room, which is enough to take Schröder while trading Moore (followed by Wood via the minimum).”
Curry likely to end career with Golden State Warriors
The popularity and success of the two future Hall of Famers (Curry and James have eight NBA titles between them) would be a marketing boon for the Lakers and the league in general. The idea of the two men joining forces on an NBA team is tantalizing.
Case in point: Bron and Steph have developed a favorite play that they honed while working together in the Olympics. Curry will set a screen and make opponents decide whether to cover his lethal attacks from behind the 3-point line or cover James, who drives into the paint with a ferocity few others possess.
“We do it a little bit in Golden State, where somebody else has the ball and I set it up, and I have a lot of different plays you can run,” Curry said, via The Athletic. “But if you can take LeBron down, good luck to everyone trying to stop him and get me out into space.”
While it’s fun to wax nostalgic about Curry in a Lakers uniform, the reality is that Steph spent all 15 seasons with Golden State, and he’ll likely want to finish his career there.
