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Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) embrace after the Warriors win over the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on April 3, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
A little more than a year ago, both the Warriors and the Lakers made trades that would have appeared impossible just weeks earlier. The Warriors made a deadline trade for Jimmy Butler, pairing him with Stephen Curry, not long after reports stated that butler had no interest in heading to the Bay Area. And even before that, the Lakers pulled off a blockbuster for Luka Doncic, in trade no one had seen coming.
Both team got immediate jolts from the addition of their new star players. Those jolts have faded, though, and both the Lakers and the Warriors are settling into 2025-26 mediocrity thus far. With aging stars on both sides, there is perhaps some urgency to give the teams’ respective rosters another jolt.
Curry is 37 and averaging 28.7 points for a Warriors team that is 18-16. LeBron James, meanwhile, just turned 41 and is averaging 20.3 points for a Lakers team that is 20-11 but has lost four of its last five games. Another big change could be what both teams need.
Rich Paul: LeBron James to Warriors ‘Not Gonna Happen’
In that vein, veteran writer and speculator Bill Simmons of The Ringer proposed that the Lakers take the modest step of swapping James for Butler, a deal that would work financially and would, at least, make both L.A. and the Warriors a lot more interesting.
But Rich Paul, the agent for James and Warriors star Draymond Green, quickly shot down the possibility of James and Curry linking up here in the twilights of their careers.
“I don’t get into that. I don’t play anything fantasy. If you ask any of my friends, does Rich do anything fantasy, they’ll say, no,” Paul said, speaking on the “Game Over” podcast he does with Max Kellerman.
“Why don’t we just play duck-duck-goose? I don’t like to get into that. It’s not gonna happen so why are we talking about things that aren’t gonna happen?”
Warriors LBJ-Stephen Curry Trade Would Bring Excitement
That’s a bummer for fans of NBA drama, of course, as well as fans who would like to see James in a Warriors uniform alongside Stephen Curry.
Paul did acknowledge that for whatever issues the Lakers and the Warriors have this season, swapping out Butler for James is not going to magically fix either team.
Said Paul: “What I will say is this. You know Joe Lacob’s my guy. Joe Lacob’s my guy, the Warriors, unbelievable organization. Right? I have a great relationship and partnership with the Lakers organization. If you and Bill Simmons want to play fantasy basketball … Let’s take both of those teams out of it. Let’s just talk about what it actually takes. It don’t take one player. For anything. It don’t matter. It don’t take one player.”
Paul did not mention why, exactly, a James deal to Golden State would not work, or why it would never actually happen. But he did note that the subject of a James trade to the Warriors came up a few years ago and, as he put it, “Draymond wrongfully accused me, I believe, of stopping something before—which I never did.”
Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney
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