The NBA is still reeling after the Los Angeles Lakers found a way to acquire superstar guard Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks. In a trade nobody saw coming, the Lakers sent Anthony Davis to Dallas as part of a three-team deal that will see Doncic don the famous purple-and-gold for the foreseeable future — setting up the Lakers for success whenever LeBron James steps away from the game of basketball.
While James has insisted that he wants to finish his career in Los Angeles, many around the NBA are questioning how the 40-year-old fits next to the 25-year-old Doncic, a ball-dominant scorer who is viewed as a likely MVP someday. While the Mavericks‘ concerns over Doncic’s conditioning could eventually prove well-founded, many around the league aren’t buying it yet — and three days before the 2024/25 NBA trade deadline, speculation is ramping up that the Lakers aren’t done remaking their roster yet.
Warriors continue to sniff around LeBron
According to veteran NBA reporters Marc Stein and Jake Fischer, the Golden State Warriors have contacted James’ entourage to ask if the King would consider waiving his no-trade clause between now and Thursday’s deadline. Rumors have swirled for years that James and Stephen Curry would someday team up — and after Los Angeles shocked the sports world by pulling off a deal for Doncic, Golden State sees this as its last chance to get the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
The Warriors‘ front office not only wants James to play alongside Curry; per Fischer, they want to bring back Kevin Durant, nearly six years after KD departed for the Brooklyn Nets as a free agent. Now playing for the Phoenix Suns, Durant has not come close to an NBA championship since winning two titles with Golden State in 2017 and 2018, and a trio of Durant-James-Curry — even with all three players 34 or older — can compete with anyone in the NBA.
However, James is reportedly still unwilling to explore a trade elsewhere; he can become a free agent this summer if he declines his 2025/26 player option to stay in LA. And if the season ended today, Golden State (11th in the Western Conference) would miss the playoffs, which would not appeal to James at all as he chases a fifth NBA championship. The league’s all-time minutes leader may think that his best shot to do so is by teaming up with Doncic, who joins a 28-19 Lakers team that sits fifth in the West thanks to eight wins from their past 10 games.
