During the Olympics, LeBron James and Stephen Curry proved to the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors that they still have enough in the tank to lead a team to a championship. However, as constructed, the Lakers and Warriors aren’t viewed as championship contenders.
The Lakers haven’t done anything in the offseason besides draft Dalton Knecht and Bronny James after losing in the first round last year. The Warriors made moves, but it still remains to be seen if they’ll be a better team than they were a season ago when they were eliminated in the Play-In game.
The Lakers could benefit from landing a player of Curry’s caliber, as it could give them at least one more season with a chance to win a championship.
Matt Levine of Sports Illustrated put together a package that’d move Curry to the Lakers.
Lakers would get: Curry, Kevon Looney
Warriors would get: Austin Reaves, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2029 first-round pick, 2031 first-round pick, 2028 first-round pick swap.
“Los Angeles gets Curry to pair alongside James and Anthony Davis for the next couple of years. After James retires, Curry could play with Davis before he hangs it up,” Levine wrote on August 23. “They also take on the contract of Looney to help the Warriors out cap-wise. It’s more of a throw in to help push the deal to the finish line for the Lakers but Looney does have experience and size that he’d bring to the team.
“This would be quite the haul for the Warriors, helping to set them up in a post-Curry era. Getting an expiring contract like Russell could help with cap space issues or they could try to flip him at the trade deadline. Reaves would give the Warriors a nice guard to work around on a very team-friendly contract, Vanderbilt would provide rebounding and defense. Hachimura has improved his game immensely over the last few years and could provide some size on the roster.”
Lakers Urged to Avoid Trading for Curry
While the idea of trading for Curry makes sense, the Los Angeles Lakers would also move all their assets for a 36-year-old, which could set their future back even more.
Because of that, Robert Marvi of USA Today believes the Lakers trading for Curry “would be a terrible idea.”
“In addition, Curry is 36 years of age, and no one knows how many years of great basketball he has left in him. This past season, he had a couple of stretches during which he looked rather human…
“Perhaps an argument could be made that he’s already entering the downside of his career,” Marvi wrote in August 23. “Plus, once James and Curry are either done or in serious decline, Los Angeles would lack the draft capital it would need to go out and replenish its roster, either by using such draft picks or trading them for players who are still productive.”
The Lakers have to focus on their draft capital issue, but they only have two tradeable first-round picks, so landing a star in a future trade would be difficult either way.
Curry Would Be an Ideal Fit With the Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers attempted the fewest 3-pointers per game a season ago. Curry, the all-time leader in 3-pointers made in NBA history, would help fix that in a big way.
Not only would he help with that, but Curry would be able to be the focus of the offense, which should allow James not to have to do as much as he has in seasons past.
In the 2023-24 campaign, Curry averaged 26.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.1 assists. The gravity he’d create for others would be ideal, and James and Anthony Davis would also get him plenty of open looks.
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