Duke legend Mike Dunleavy Jr. dogging Lakers for LeBron-Warriors trade to form all-time Steph Curry pairing
Duke legend Mike Dunleavy Jr. dogging Lakers for LeBron-Warriors trade to form all-time Steph Curry pairing originally appeared on The Sporting News
Golden State Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. has been obsessed with landing LeBron James from the Los Angeles Lakers, to no avail. Dunleavy reportedly called Lakers GM Rob Pelinka “multiple times” in the last 18 months, dating back to the 2023-24 season.
“As long as LeBron James’ future in Los Angeles remains uncertain, Golden State will undoubtedly be mentioned as a potential James suitor. I’m told that the Warriors have called the Lakers on multiple occasions over the past 18 months to see whether there is any trade pathway to pairing James with Stephen Curry, who roughly a year ago at this time was teaming with LeBron for the United States senior men’s national team on its run to a gold medal at the Paris Olympics,” Fischer wrote.
It’s not hard to see Dunleavy’s vision. Especially when Team USA showed during the 2024 Paris Olympics how deadly James’s downhill facilitation can be alongside Curry’s otherworldly catch-and-shoot ability.
Considering it’s been multiple regimes’ worth of phone calls, it’s fair to say players like Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga were involved in at least a few offers. Klay Thompson would’ve made sense to have his name thrown around during the 2023-24 season before signing with the Dallas Mavericks the following offseason. Andrew Wiggins, too.
Advertisement
Regardless, no deal has been struck. Yet.
Jimmy Butler may make sense as a defensive specialist next to Luka Doncic’s playmaking in L.A. His cap figure is nearly identical to James’s.
Dunleavy has a dream and an ever-evolving plan. We’ll see if the former Duke basketball phenom is willing to do what it takes to rip his former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate James away from another fellow Blue Devils sharpshooter, Lakers coach J.J. Redick.
By all accounts, Redick is looking to hand the reins to Luka and not look back. So Pelinka might as well put LeBron in his rearview mirror.