The Golden State Warriors just watched one of their in-state rivals make (arguably) the biggest trade in NBA history. The Los Angeles Lakers landed Luka Doncic in a blockbuster move that sent Anthony Davis and a first-round pick to the Dallas Mavericks. Meanwhile, the Warriors are still scouring the market for ways to improve their playoff chances.
A long-term plan like Doncic isn’t walking through the door of Chase Center anytime soon, but they still want to give Stephen Curry the best chance to win right now. There have been a few rumblings, but the latest would trump them all.
It would be even bigger than the Doncic trade.
Warriors exploring concept of trading for LeBron James and Kevin Durant
According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, the most recent murmur surrounding the Warriors’ internal discussions regarding whether or not they could find a way to add both LeBron James and Kevin Durant. And if they do that—put both James and Durant next to Curry in Golden State—it would be bigger than the Doncic deal.
“Sources say the most ambitious idea being tossed around among Golden State's decision-makers: Is there any feasible pathway for the Warriors to pull off the dreamiest of outcomes and find a way to bring both James and Durant to The Bay?” Fischer wrote.
“That would require quite the masterstroke. And while pulling that off currently stands as very unlikely, both from a salary-matching and asset valuation standpoint, this is the sort of big-game hunting that has defined these Warriors.”
To be perfectly clear, this type of deal is wildly unlikely. The thought that the Warriors could get James and Durant will almost certainly live and die at that point—a thought.
However, if that thought were to gain even a little traction, it has the potential to break basketball.
Curry, James, and Durant have been the biggest superstars on the planet for the past decade. They competed against each other in the NBA Finals for years, and they won a gold medal in Paris together this past summer. To see them together on the same NBA roster would be absolutely insane.
Perhaps the shock value of the Doncic trade would be bigger, as there are now official seeds being planted of this Warriors idea. But in practice, the Warriors trading for James and Durant in the same season would break the NBA.
It would take a wild series of events to make happen, and it's virtually financially impossible, but it would be one of the biggest moves in NBA history.