When you think of Stephen Curry and the ideal superstar teammate, only one name truly fits the bill: LeBron James.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, fans finally got to see the two NBA icons play side-by-side as teammates instead of rivals. And while they wore Team USA jerseys in Paris, the Golden State Warriors would surely love to see them share the floor in their own uniforms.
The notion of teaming up Curry and James isn’t new. What is new, however, is the apparent shift in how the Los Angeles Lakers are viewing their 40-year-old legend.
According to Brian Windhorst, James is no longer seen as the face of the franchise, but rather as a soon-to-expire contract.
“In the last few days,” Windhorst reported, “I’ve come to realize the Lakers essentially see LeBron as an expiring deal. … For whatever reason, there haven’t been meaningful talks about extending his contract.”
Expiring contracts in the NBA often signal trade possibilities, and Windhorst now believes a LeBron trade is no longer off the table—which could open the door for the Warriors.
Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz proposed a hypothetical trade between the two teams:
- Warriors receive: LeBron James
- Lakers receive: Jimmy Butler and Quinten Post
This proposed deal has intriguing angles for both franchises. The Lakers would be swapping James for a younger Butler, who still has productive years left, while Post could help strengthen their frontcourt rotation. Still, it’s a hard sell to trade away a player of LeBron’s stature for what might be only a modest return.
For the Warriors, if 2025–26 is indeed LeBron’s final season, it represents a rare opportunity to make a serious championship run with two all-time greats—Curry and James—on the same roster.
In the end, both teams would need to think carefully before pulling the trigger. But there’s little doubt that the Warriors would be far more tempted by this scenario than the Lakers.
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