RealGM

Golden State Warriors receive:
LeBron James

Los Angeles Lakers receive:
Jonathan Kuminga
2025 first-round pick
2027 first-round pick
Gary Payton II
edit: add THJr

Detroit Pistons receive:
Andrew Wiggins
Brandin Podziemski
Future second-round picks (from Warriors or Lakers, as incentives)

For the Warriors:
The Warriors go all-in by acquiring LeBron for a 2-year championship window. They send out Wiggins and Podziemski to Detroit, which helps them stay under the first apron since they're not taking back additional salary from Detroit. This move would allow the Warriors to absorb LeBron's salary without going over their hard cap.

For the Lakers:
They get young talent in Kuminga, who can be a cornerstone for their post-LeBron era, along with multiple first-round picks to rebuild or enhance their roster. Payton II provides defensive depth. They start a rebuild with promising young players and future draft picks, potentially accelerating their return to competitiveness.

For the Pistons:
Detroit, with its cap flexibility, can absorb Wiggins' contract, which is expiring after the 2025-26 season, providing them with a veteran presence or a trade asset. Podziemski adds to their young core. The second-round picks serve as sweeteners or future trade chips. They gain assets, both in terms of players and draft capital, which aligns with their strategy of building for the future or using these pieces in further trades.

Kuminga is untouchable according to ownership.

And this trade makes the warriors worse.

Plus, Wiggins is the exact type of wing you want next to luka.

I don't get this for Golden State, TBH. Remove the picks, send Podz to LAL, send Kuminga to a third team for a center + stuff (not Kessler, sorry).

Crazy-Canuck wrote:Kuminga is untouchable according to ownership.

And this trade makes the warriors worse.

Plus, Wiggins is the exact type of wing you want next to luka.

AD is untouchable according to ownership

Until you randomly get offered someone in a completely different stratosphere

Take out the picks and it may get looked at from the Warriors side. Lebron turns 147 next year, the Warriors aren't mortgaging picks for a geriatric run at a championship for 1, maybe 2 years at the very most.

Hard pass. Multiple firsts need to come back to Detroit to help facilitate any deal.

This trade overrates how good LeBron (and Steph) are on-court at this point. They both have a bunch of extra off-court value but on-court they've declined. Combined with their high contracts they wouldn't be enough to go anywhere interesting (and I'd say that they're off-court value is maximized separately).

I think if you trust Lebron and Curry can both crank it up for the playoffs (and I don't see why you wouldn't) then this makes sense for Golden State (maybe pull back a little on draft capital). For the Lakers, I imagine they want to see the Lebron/Luka fit before they pull the plug on the combo, though. I like it for Detroit.