The Golden State Warriors and
Philadelphia 76ers inquired about Los Angeles Lakers superstar
LeBron James prior to the NBA’s trade deadline on February 8,
according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona
Shelburne.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob (with
the encouragement of star forward Draymond Green) reached out to
Lakers owner Jeanie Buss to inquire about the availability of James
in hopes of pairing him with longtime rival Stephen Curry. However,
Buss (and James) quickly turned down Golden State.
After struggling to make waves
all season, the Warriors attempted to add James at the deadline and
extend their dynastic run. Even at 39 years old, James is still
playing at a high level with a skill set that would complement
Curry, Green and Klay Thompson.
ESPN reported: “Buss told Lacob the
Lakers had no desire to trade James, but that he would need to seek
the answer on James’ state of mind from his agent, Klutch Sports
CEO Rich Paul, sources said. As an owner, Buss has operated with
the mindset that she wants her star players content with the
franchise, and that instructed her thinking on referring Warriors
leadership to James’ representation, sources said.
“If the Lakers ever wanted a
temperature check on James’ commitment, here was his chance. In the
end, the answer was returned resoundingly on the eve of the trade
deadline: Paul told Lacob and Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr., that
James had no interest in a trade and wanted to remain a Laker,
sources said. When Dunleavy reached out to Lakers GM Rob Pelinka in
those pre-trade deadline hours, Dunleavy had been told the same:
The Lakers wanted to keep James.”
Green, who is also represented
by Rich Paul’s Klutch Sports, went the extra mile and asked Paul to
help persuade James to come to Golden State, but to no
avail.
“Earlier Wednesday, Green —
whom Paul also represents at Klutch — had sent Paul a text message
soliciting his help in convincing James to join him in Golden
State, sources said. Once, Green had been a lead recruiter on Kevin
Durant’s free agency signing with Golden State, but this was a far
different, far more futile 11th-hour pursuit,” Wojnarowski and
Shelburne reported.
Moreover, Sixers president of
basketball operations Daryl Morey also joined in the LeBron James
sweepstakes but was immediately denied by Lakers general manager
Rob Pelinka. Wojnarowski and Shelburne revealed that Pelinka
responded to Morey by asking if superstar Joel Embiid was
available, but that immediately ended their trade
conversation.
“Dunleavy was the second team
executive call to Pelinka on a possible James trade, sources said.
After seeing James’ cryptic social media post of an hourglass a
week before the trade deadline, Philadelphia 76ers president of
basketball operations Daryl Morey called Pelinka to probe on a
James trade and was immediately told that James wasn’t available,”
the report states. “In fact, Pelinka
responded by asking Morey if Joel Embiid was available, sources
said. And that ended that brief conversation.”
Ultimately, James stayed put in
Los Angeles and two sides remain committed to each other for the
rest of the season as they look to gain important positioning for
the playoffs. The Lakers currently sit in ninth place in the
Western Conference with a 29-26 record.
