In what was clearly a very audacious, albeit unsuccessful, move, it appears that the Golden State Warriors attempted to lure LeBron James from the Los Angeles Lakers just before the NBA trade deadline last season. Reports of the apparent move are only now starting to surface and appear to have credence.
The move would have seen James make the short switch to San Francisco but was apparently not likely to come to fruition as the four-time NBA champion had no interest in leaving the Lakers, not least because he would have been aware that his son was set to be drafted to join him at the Crypto.com Arena.
Darvin Ham’s side completed a 47-35 regular season record, their best since winning the NBA championship in 2019/20, but they were then eased out by the Denver Nuggets in five games in their first-round playoff clash. If you feel that LeBron James will lead the Lakers to another NBA finals series, then why not back your stance with a bet? Before doing so, it would help to be as in the know as possible, and here you’ll find all the info you need as well as access to great offers and promotions, helping you to maximize your wager.
On the failed move, NBA insider Marc Stein explained the reasons why the move did not come to completion,
“It is believed that the Lakers would have reluctantly entertained trade conversations with the Warriors before last February’s trade deadline if James wanted them to seriously engage Golden State on a potential deal,”
“Yet league sources say that the reported talks between the teams at the time never got that far in large part because James’ agent Rich Paul was adamantly opposed to the idea of James swapping Southern California for Northern California.”
James, who turns 40 in December, won his third Olympic gold medal in Paris over the summer and will return for his seventh season at the Lakers for 2024/25. Though he has remained consistent over the course of his time in Los Angeles, his side has faltered since winning the title, repeatedly falling over themselves in the playoffs.
Apparently, the chances of a move to the Warriors would have been problematic due to LeBron making another move,
“Sources say Paul (Rich Paul, LeBron’s agent) implored both teams to scrap the concept — despite some owner-to-owner dialogue between the Warriors’ Joe Lacob and the Lakers’ Jeanie Buss and Green’s determination to lobby James to push for relocation to the Bay Area — largely because he wanted to insulate James from potential backlash over switching teams for the fourth time in his career,”
No doubt the possibility of seeing LeBron and Steph Curry teaming up would have been a marketing dream for Golden State, and the pair worked wonderfully well for Team USA, but such a deal does not seem to have much of a chance of occurring.
Many in Los Angeles are excited by the form shown by both LeBron and Anthony Davis and are hopeful that Darvin Ham’s side can make a more prolonged run in the postseason next time around.
