The glory of having LeBron James on your team is that you have who many consider the greatest player of all time on your roster.
So you would think the Los Angeles Lakers are crazy to even consider trading the career 27-point-per-game scorer.
Well, it’s an easier pill to swallow when you have a 25-year-old superstar in Luka Dončić putting up Hall of Fame numbers at your point guard, one of the reasons Bleach Report’s Eric Pincus has James as the centerpiece to this massive three-team blockbuster trade.
“The initial assumption is Dallas views James, even at almost 41, as the viable option to propel the franchise into upper-echelon contention. The cost is depth,” Pincus said Friday. “The Lakers never had a young defensive center behind Davis and James like Lively. Irving and James won a title together in Cleveland with the Cavaliers. Dallas would be making a bold move, but James remains one of the league’s top NBA stars.”
The proposed trade deals with the Lakers, Mavericks, and Brooklyn Nets. Here are the full details.
Nets receive: Dalton Knecht, Maxi Kleber, Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Dwight Powell.
Lakers receive: Daniel Gafford, P.J. Washington, Naji Marshall, Caleb Martin, Jaden Hardy, two Lakers second-round picks and James’ $24.1 million trade exception.
Mavericks receive: Lebron James, Bronny James, Drew Timme, Tyrese Martin, a $1.8 million trade exception and a $1.1 million trade exception.
Dallas and Los Angeles have already teamed up to make one of the biggest trades in NBA history less than a year ago, so why not a second time around?
James immediately puts the Mavericks into contention and teams up with two of his favorite teammates ever, and the Lakers are able to prioritize the team around Dončić.
Seeing LeBron back together with Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis would be ironic, but it would make for one powerful team.
Warriors superstar Steph Curry enters his 17th NBA season having played with and against some of the greatest basketball players of all time.
So, who would he consider to be the hooper with the highest on-court IQ? The 37-year-old revealed his answer to Complex’s Speedy Morman on Thursday.
“Between [Chris Paul] and [LeBron James] — those two,” Curry told Morman. No shockers there.
Paul and James have undoubtedly been hailed as two of the NBA’s brightest players throughout their combined 2,916 career regular-season games played. Each can facilitate offenses like no other and always has been an extension of their coaching staff.
Curry has a great perspective on each player. He has been a longtime rival of both with Golden State, having defeated their various teams en route to championships. He, too, has played on the Warriors with Paul and on Team USA Basketball with James.
“It’s the way they play, obviously, but the way they talk, the way they can kind of orchestrate an offense [and] control it,” Curry told Morman. “Like, Bron is the one who can control the tempo the greatest.
“And CP’s the one that, every possession, knows what he’s trying to get out of it. At his peak, it was insane; he could get his bucket and get somebody a lob or drop-down pass; he knew what play; the timing was cool; all that type of stuff.”
Curry has much respect for Paul and James. And one day, they will have spots in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame together, largely due to their unique basketball minds.
But Curry mentioned one more name when finishing his answer to Morman — his longtime Golden State teammate and fellow future Hall of Famer, Draymond Green.
“Those two are top of mind with the highest IQ,” Curry reiterated about Paul and James to Morman. “And obviously Draymond. That’s like the podium for me.”
Green’s on-court smarts might be lesser known to NBA fans outside of Dub Nation. Curry knows how much of a genius his running mate is, though, which is all that matters.
