While many assumed there was no chance Lebron James would be traded by the Los Angeles Lakers, it seems the Golden State Warriors made a serious push to land the NBA legend right before the 2024 NBA trade deadline.
Both the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors have had highly disappointing campaigns this season. As the two franchises near the All-Star break, they are at the back end of the Western Conference top 10 in the current NBA standings. It’s a position neither team expected to be in at this point in the season.
It is also why both were involved in speculation about shaking up their respective rosters before the NBA trade deadline last week. However, Feb. 8 came and went and the two organizations made no significant moves. However, a new report claims they were actually in serious conversations about a landmark trade with each other.
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Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers bosses talked potential Lebron James trade last week
On Wednesday morning, NBA ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski revealed that after some “encouragement” from Draymond Green, Warriors owner Joe Lacob actually reached out to Lakers boss Jeanie Buss about the possible availability of Lebron James.
Before the trade deadline, the four-time NBA MVP made a pair of subtle public statements about his displeasure with the current direction of the team and some speculated it could open the door to the Lakers considering a trade to send him out of LA.
However, Buss told Lacob she had no interest in such a deal. But she did not want an unhappy superstar on her team and told the Golden State owner to speak with his Klutch Sports representative Rich Paul, to see if the league legend would welcome a move to the Warriors.
‘In the end, the answer was returned resoundingly on the eve of the trade deadline: Rich Paul told Lacob and Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr., that James had no interest in a trade and wanted to remain a Laker,” Wojnarowski wrote. “When Dunleavy reached out to Lakers GM Rob Pelinka in those pre-trade deadline hours, Dunleavy had been told the same: The Lakers wanted to keep James.”
The ESPN insider also revealed that Draymond Green reached out to Paul — who also represents him — to see if he could convince James to come join him in Golden State with Stephen Curry. However, those advances were unsuccessful.
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