Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The Warriors calling the Lakers about a LeBron James trade is the start of another round of free agency speculation with his son Bronny potentially entering the NBA Draft.
The Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers each called the Los Angeles Lakers to make a trade offer for LeBron James, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Both the Lakers and James were uninterested in a potential trade and were committed to remain together through the season.
According to Woj, trade conversations took place at the ownership level, with Warriors owner Joe Lacob calling Lakers owner Jeanie Buss to gauge interest in a potential James deal. Buss directed the Warriors to James’ agent Rich Paul, who reaffirmed LeBron’s commitment to the Lakers.
The Sixers reportedly called on a potential James trade after his hourglass emoji social media post. Those talks went nowhere. Woj reports Sixers president Daryl Morey also made offers to the Phoenix Suns for Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal that went nowhere.
The Warriors and Lakers played each other in the second round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs, with the Lakers advancing in six games. If the season ended today, the Lakers and Warriors would face-off in the 9-10 play-in game, with the loser’s season being immediately over.
James is 39 years old, but he’s still playing at a high level. It’s been years since he’s been the best player in the league, but trusted all-in-one advanced metric Estimated Plus-Minus still grades out James as a top-10 player in the league.
The trade overtures for James are particularly interesting this year for two reasons:
He has a player option after the season and can become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2024
His son Bronny James could potentially enter the 2024 NBA Draft
The elder James has long stated his desire to play with Bronny before his career is over. Would a team use a draft pick on James Jr. this year as a way to lure his all-time great father away from the Lakers?
It’s possible. Longtime NBA insider Marc Stein mentioned the possibility of teams drafting Bronny with an eye on landing LeBron in a Substack dispatch earlier this week:
I know of at least two teams on the NBA map that believe LeBron James would consider signing with them at far less than $51.4 million if Bronny James is on the roster. There might be more.
Are those teams the Warriors and Sixers? It’s possible. Throw the New York Knicks in there too — who James recently said he has fantasized about playing for — and we really have a party.
Drafting Bronny James in the first round would be a bold move because he has not played like a first rounder this year at USC. That shouldn’t be surprise after James Jr. had a terrifying cardiac arrest episode during an early season scrimmage that caused James Jr. to miss valuable practice time and pushed back his college debut until by a month.
I’ve grinded the tape on Bronny before and still believe he’s a first round caliber prospect despite a slow start to this season. USC is an absolute disaster this year — they’re 9-15 overall and 3-10 in conference play — there is plenty of blame to go around for that before any of it reflects on Bronny.
So: should a team draft LeBron Jr. to try to land LeBron Sr.? It’s a fascinating idea on several levels. For one, the 2024 NBA Draft class isn’t very good. I’ve been lucky enough to cover the draft here for more than a decade, and this is the weakest class I’ve seen since 2013. Yes, infamous bust Anthony Bennett was the first pick in 2013, but don’t forget that class also had future Hall of Fame inductees Giannis Antetokounmpo and Rudy Gobert outside the lottery. Even in a weak class, there can always be great players lurking.
The Warriors do not have a pick in the 2024 draft because of trades made long ago. The Lakers don’t pick until No. 57. Just for fun, here are a few other teams that might consider Bronny if they can land LeBron:
The Oklahoma City Thunder would currently pick No. 10 and No. 11 overall.
The Knicks pick at No. 19 and No. 23
The 76ers pick at No. 22
All three of those teams would immediately be championship contenders if they sign or acquire LeBron James. Getting Bronny James as a developmental prospect would be nice, too, even if he’d currently be a “reach” in the first round. If drafting Bronny means getting a couple years of LeBron, it’s well worth the risk.
Of course, it’s possible LeBron Sr. would stick with the Lakers next season regardless of where his son gets drafted. James reportedly wants to finish his career with the Lakers, and the Lakers reportedly want him to retire with the team.
The fact that we’re still speculating over LeBron James’ free agency decisions in the year 2024 is perhaps the ultimate testament to his greatness. This man was drafted in 2003. His first dip into free agency in the summer of 2010 is the stuff of legend and continues to inform how players make their choices today. We are not getting “The Decision Part 2” this summer (or is Part 4?) but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that James could leave the Lakers if they lose in the play-in tournament and thus fail to make the playoffs.
Somehow, all these years later, LeBron James still runs the NBA’s rumor cycle. That’s not going to change until he finally decides to hang it up.
