There weren’t a ton of fireworks at last week’s NBA trade deadline, but the Golden State Warriors tried to make a big move that ultimately failed. That big move?
Trading for LeBron James.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne, the flailing Warriors called the Los Angeles Lakers at some point before the trade deadline to inquire if James was interested in a trade that would pair him with fellow rival and generational legend Stephen Curry. Neither James or the Lakers were interested.
Warriors felt timing was right
If you’re the Warriors, you don’t call the Lakers about a LeBron trade at the first sign of trouble. The situation had to be just right to take a shot, and the Warriors felt they’d found it. They’re currently sitting in 10th place in the West, just a few losses away from falling out of the Play-In Tournament. The Lakers have also been faltering, sitting just one spot ahead of them in 9th.
Plus, James has appeared to be getting impatient with the Lakers in his bid to win another NBA title at age 39. There are a lot of reasons for someone to post an hourglass emoji on X (formerly known as Twitter), but if you’re LeBron James on January 31 and your Lakers just lost to the Atlanta Hawks, there’s really only one reason.
⌛️
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 31, 2024
Calling a team to ask if they want to trade the arguable NBA GOAT isn’t something done general manager to general manager. So Warriors owner Joe Lacob reportedly called Lakers owner Jeanie Buss to inquire. According to Woj and Shelburne, Buss told Lacob that the Lakers did not want to part with James, but they should call James’ agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, to get a read on the megastar’s state of mind.
That was also a non-starter. Paul reportedly told both Buss and Lacob that James wanted to remain with the Lakers. So even though the Warriors had apparently put together a possible trade package, they never got the opportunity to present it.
Lacob went to Draymond Green for advice
The hourglass tweet alone reportedly wasn’t enough for Lacob to consider reaching out to Buss, so he got the advice of a Warriors player who knew James well: Draymond Green. James and Green are longtime friends, and Green had previously been involved in Golden State’s efforts to recruit Kevin Durant.
Green was reportedly on board, and since he and James are both represented by Paul at Klutch Sports, he texted Paul to ask for help recruiting LeBron. It’s not known how Paul responded, or if he even responded at all.
76ers‘ Morey also called to inquire about LeBron trade
While the main story here is about two gold star franchises trying to find ways to win one more championship with their aging stars, there’s also a bit of comic relief courtesy of Philadelphia 76ers basketball operations president Daryl Morey. According to Woj and Shelburne, Morey called Pelinka before the deadline to see if James was available.
It went about as well as you’d expect.
After seeing James’ murky social media post of an hour-glass 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 types of calls aren’t out of the ordinary for Morey, ESPN reported. But it’s pretty easy to imagine Pelinka having that short conversation with the Sixers prez while constantly rolling his eyes and fantasizing about shoving Morey into a locker.
