It wasn’t just fans and media trying to read into LeBron James’ cryptic hourglass emoji Tweet.
Warriors General Manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. decided to lob a call in the 24 hours before last week’s trade deadline and try to convince the Lakers to trade LeBron to the Warriors to pair up with Stephen Curry, reports Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Warriors owner Joe Lacob called Lakers governor Jeanie Buss to move the process along. LeBron, Lakers GM Rob Pelinka and LeBron’s agent Rich Paul shot that idea down, a sign that LeBron will likely remain in Los Angeles this summer, too, despite having a player option where he can be a free agent.
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... 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.
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.
Interestingly, this trade discussion started with ownership and filtered down to the front office, the opposite of how trades traditionally start (with lower-level executives feeling another franchise out on a deal, things bubbling up to the GM level and eventually being signed off by ownership).
The ESPN report says 76ers GM Daryl Morey also called Pelinka to ask if LeBron was available, and Pelinka responded by asking if Joel Embiid was available. That reportedly ended the conversation.
Don’t be surprised if the Warriors try to revisit this next offseason, especially if the Warriors and Lakers flame out early in the playoffs (both still have to make it in, they currently sit ninth and 10th in the West and seem headed for the play-in). LeBron has a $51.4 million player option for next season and has made it clear he wants to chase rings in his remaining NBA seasons. The Lakers plan to go big game hunting this summer, while the Warriors face hard questions about winning with their aging core. The most likely outcome is LeBron James remains a Laker with Anthony Davis and an upgraded roster around them, but the Warriors would be wise to be lurking and looking for a chance to bring this trade idea up one more time.
