Father-Son duo may be package deal if Warriors wish to reignite blockbuster trade

The idea of Stephen Curry and LeBron James playing together in the NBA won't go away.

The Golden State Warriors guard addressed it again recently in an interview with People.com, leaving the door ajar by stating, "hopefully, there will be more experiences in the future, even if we’re teammates or not.” It comes after the superstar duo led Team USA to Gold at the Paris Olympics, with both named to the tournament's All-Star Five and unsurprisingly developing quite the chemistry on-court.

While one of the greatest rivalries in the history of the league, fans and former players are warming to the idea of seeing Curry and James on the same NBA team, particularly with the Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers both in no-man's land and not appearing likely to be in championship contention next season.

If the Golden State Warriors wish to keep their LeBron James dream alive, they may have to prepare themselves to take on Bronny as well

Trade proposals have flown around for months, dating back to when Golden State tried to make a blockbuster trade for James at February's mid-season deadline. That didn't come to fruition, and now the circumstances have changed at both team but especially in Los Angeles.

The Lakers fired Darvin Ham after their first-round playoff exit, hiring James' friend and previous podcast partner JJ Redick to fill the vacant head coaching role. They also drafted James' son Bronny with the 55th overall pick in June's NBA Draft, with Rich Paul and Clutch Sports warning off other team to ensure the father-son duo can play together.

That's not to say that the Warriors couldn't explore a trade for James again, particularly given the 4x MVP has a no-trade clause and can also opt out of his player option for the 2025-26 season. However, they made need to make some concessions to make it happen.

In a recent trade proposal, Cal Durrett of Hoops Habit has the James duo headed to Golden State for Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II, Kevon Looney, Moses Moody, a 2026 first-round pick, and a 2028 top 10 protected first-round pick.

We'll let you make your own assessment on the validity of the deal for both sides, but the other interesting factor is Bronny being involved in the trade. Rather than run from the Lakers and leave his son behind, it makes sense that the Warriors or any other team trading for LeBron would have to bring the younger James on board as well, even if they had little interest in him individually.

That's important to note because it does take up a roster spot. Bronny is on a four-year, $7.9 million deal, including a team option on the final season. His Summer League performances were less than ideal, averaging 8.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 2.3 turnovers while shooting 35% from the floor and 15.8% from three-point range in 25 minutes per game.

Who knows if Warriors management still harbors hope of landing LeBron as they did back in February, but if they do they must acknowledge and understand they'll now likely have to take Bronny on in the process.