Draymond Green’s long-gestating bromance with LeBron James took a more direct turn in the hours before the NBA trade deadline.
Green pushed Warriors owner Joe Lacob to reach out to the Lakers about acquiring James, according to a Wednesday report from ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski that cited unnamed sources. Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka both rebuffed the Warriors’ advances, the report says, but Buss referred the Dubs to Rich Paul, James’ client, for his thoughts.
Paul, the CEO of Klutch Sports, also happens to represent Green, who reached out to him directly, as did the Warriors. Klutch is known to engineer team-ups of its clients, but in this instance, James reportedly declined the Warriors’ advances via Paul.
The entire saga stemmed from two things: James passively pressuring the Lakers ahead of the deadline, as he has done with his teams many times before; and the Warriors’ desire to amplify Steph Curry’s prime. Well, that and Green’s willingness to be a staunch recruiter — a skill he last showcased to great effect when the Warriors landed Kevin Durant from Oklahoma City in 2016.
In the end, the Warriors never even reached the point of offering a specific package of players and picks for James, 39, but the outreach (and the leaking of the report) indicates that they still aim to go all-in on the 35-year-old Curry’s prime.
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Curry is still performing at an extremely high level, shooting 42.1 percent on 3-point attempts and averaging 28.0 points per game. He has also stayed relatively healthy despite taking on the third-highest usage rate of his career at 30.3 percent (behind 2020-21, when Klay Thompson was injured, and 2015-16, when the team was chasing the regular-season wins record).
The Warriors also reached out to the Bulls and Jazz about Alex Caruso and Kelly Olynyk, respectively, according to multiple reports. In the end, they traded Cory Joseph to the Pacers in a deal that also included cash and a swap of second-round picks, choosing to ride with a core that currently has them on a five-game win streak. The Lakers are one game ahead of the Warriors in ninth and tenth place in the West — the last two play-in spots.
James’ rumored discontent with the Lakers suggests he could opt out of his contract in L.A. this summer, but the Warriors — who have the league’s highest payroll this season — are not a realistic fit under the NBA’s salary cap rules.