A week or two ago, there were some whispers that perhaps LeBron James was unhappy with the Los Angeles Lakers and that they were even in talks to trade him.
James tweeted an emoji of an hourglass after they got blown out by the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 30. A day later, a reporter at Los Angeles-based television station KTLA tweeted that the Lakers were looking to trade him.
While James is still a Laker nearly a week after the trade deadline passed, there were reportedly two teams that tried to trade for him, most notably the Golden State Warriors (h/t Lakers Daily).
Via ESPN:
“Over a clandestine 24-hour window prior to the trade deadline Thursday that included owner-to-owner conversations, the Golden State Warriors made an unsuccessful bid to convince the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James to consider a trade to pair him with longtime rival Stephen Curry, sources told ESPN,” wrote Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne.
“The Warriors were eager to present a package deal to L.A., but neither the Lakers nor James were willing to explore a potential blockbuster. Even at 39 years old, James is still playing at an All-NBA level that stirred the Warriors’ imagination about his ability to extend the window of the franchise’s fading dynasty.”
James has hinted that he would like to play with Curry, a fellow four-time NBA champion, in the past.
There was a big driving force behind the Warriors' attempt to trade for James
Warriors star Draymond Green has publicly expressed how highly he thinks of James, and he was apparently a driving force behind trying to land James in the Bay Area.
“Armed with the encouragement of Warriors star Draymond Green, Golden State owner Joe Lacob reached out to Lakers owner Jeanie Buss to inquire whether James’ apparent public frustration could be interpreted as an opening to discuss a trade, sources said.
“Buss told Lacob the Lakers had no desire to trade James, but that he would need to seek the answer on James’ state of mind from his agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, sources said. As an owner, Buss has operated with the mindset that she wants her star players content with the franchise, and that instructed her thinking on referring Warriors leadership to James’ representation, sources said.
“If the Lakers ever wanted a temperature check on James’ commitment, here was his chance. In the end, the answer was returned resoundingly on the eve of the trade deadline: Paul told Lacob and Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr., that James had no interest in a trade and wanted to remain a Laker, sources said. When Dunleavy reached out to Lakers GM Rob Pelinka in those pretrade deadline hours, Dunleavy had been told the same: The Lakers wanted to keep James, sources said.
“Earlier Wednesday, Green — whom Paul also represents at Klutch — had sent Paul a text message soliciting his help in convincing James to join him in Golden State, sources said.”
The Warriors, who won the world title in June 2022, have been under .500 for most of this season. Their dynasty is running on fumes, and many felt they needed to make a big trade prior to the deadline in order to prevent it from dying.
The 76ers also took a chance on asking for James
The other team that reportedly asked about James’ availability was the Philadelphia 76ers. However, those discussions didn’t get as far as the ones the Warriors had with L.A.
“After seeing James’ cryptic social media post of an hourglass a week before the trade deadline, Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey called Pelinka to probe on a James trade and was immediately told that James wasn’t available. In fact, Pelinka responded by asking Morey if Joel Embiid was available, sources said. And that ended that brief conversation. These sorts of bold trade calls are historically a common practice for Morey, who also called the Phoenix Suns and asked about the availability of Durant, only to be told Durant was not available, sources said.”
James has a player option for next season, which is the final season on his current contract. He could decline that option to become a free agent this summer, at which point he could either leave L.A. or sign a new contract with the Lakers.
