Los Angeles Lakers Receive: G/F Andrew Wiggins, F Jonathan Kuminga

Golden State Warriors Receive: F LeBron James

Something about the mental image of LeBron James in a Golden State Warriors evokes feelings. Either it doesn’t feel right, or, it feels so wrong that it does.

It wasn’t long ago that James battling with the Warriors in the NBA Finals was a perennial occurrence. This deal finds The King joining ’em, even though he was able to beat ’em (once out of four times).

The on-court product would be sensational. Recall how poorly James fit alongside Russell Westbrook in 2021-22. Now picture the exact opposite.

Trying to contain James’ drives to the hole with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson spacing the floor ought to be a literal impossibility.

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On the Los Angeles Lakers’ end, they’re landing a quality young 3-and-D wing in Wiggins and a potential superstar in Kuminga. We can’t stress this enough: this will not happen this summer.

The point is that it can be justified. Golden State Warriors fans won’t likely complain about this proposition. In five years, it may be Lakers fans who’d be celebrating it.