Assuming James opted into his player option or agreed to a sign-and-trade at a similar number, the Warriors would need to send out considerable salary along with young and future assets. Bailey has proposed the following deal to bring LeBron to Golden State:
Making such a move would require the Warriors to guarantee all of Chris Paul's $30 million team option for next season, meaning their aspirations of getting under the second-tax apron becomes all but impossible. That doesn't really matter given that adding one of the greatest players of all-time would provide an indication of the franchise's continued willingness to spend big.
Would the Lakers make the trade?
Essentially helping out a direct pacific rival certainly wouldn't be on the Lakers offseason wish list, but they may have little choice if James signals his intention or threatens to depart for nothing via free agency.
Given that potential situation, this is a fair return for a player entering his 22nd NBA season and who will be 40 by the end of the year. Adding Paul and Wiggins could maintain some relevance of competitiveness for the Lakers next season, or they could rehabilitate their value in the hopes of extracting further assets by the trade deadline.
If Los Angeles do choose to go into rebuild mode, acquiring Kuminga and this haul of picks is a nice place to start. The 21-year-old displayed All-Star potential in an impressive third season, and would garner even more opportunity to thrive as one of the faces of arguably the league's biggest franchise.
Losing James would be a disappointing outcome for the Lakers regardless of the return, but this is far from a disastrous result if the options are limited. Assuming Los Angeles accepted the deal, would Golden State also be willing to complete it?