How the Golden State Warriors Can Actually Trade for Both Kevin Durant, LeBron James

How the Golden State Warriors Can Actually Trade for Both Kevin Durant, LeBron James0 of 4

LeBron James and Kevin DurantJim Poorten/NBAE via Getty Images

While most of the NBA keeps reeling from the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Dončić-for-Anthony Davis megatrade, the Golden State Warriors seem to be looking for ways to one-up their division rival, as unlikely as that seems.

On Monday, The Stein Line’s Jake Fischer reported on Golden State’s almost unbelievable goal: to acquire both LeBron James and Kevin Durant ahead of the trade deadline.

“That would require quite the masterstroke,” Fischer wrote. “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.”

Hunting is one thing. Actually hitting that target would take a miracle, but everyone would’ve said that about the Luka-AD deal before it happened. Granted, Nico Harrison and the Mavericks wouldn’t be involved in this scenario, but they recently gave new meaning to the phrase “stranger things have happened.”

Below, we’ll dive into what the Warriors might even offer the Lakers and Phoenix Suns in hopes to pull this off.

A 3-Teamer Ain’t Happenin’1 of 4

Kevin Durant and Stephen CurryThearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

The first instinct when you hear that one team is interested in two players from two different teams is to start trying to cook up three-team deals.

And no matter how good you are in the kitchen, there’s just no combination of ingredients that works for this situation.

Pick whatever trade machine you want. Rearrange the moving pieces however you want. There’s just no way to escape the dreaded and various “this trade failed” messages.

And the situations of all three teams are contributing to that impossibility.

The Suns are over the second apron ($188.9 million), meaning they can’t aggregate outgoing salaries.

Golden State is hard-capped at the first apron ($178.1 million), and Stephen Curry makes $55.7 million by himself. Adding Durant ($51.1 million) and LeBron ($48.7 million) to Curry gets you over 80 percent of the way to that first apron.

Even making this work in separate deals is borderline impossible, but that’s what the rumor mill has tasked us with doing.

Get Durant 1st2 of 4

Kevin DurantAlika Jenner/Getty Images

On the same day Fischer’s report dropped, ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel wrote that Golden State had already called Phoenix about possible Durant deals, but that the idea “was quickly turned down by the Suns.”

That’s understandable, but for the sake of argument, let’s talk about what the Warriors might offer while retaining enough salary and assets to turn around and chase LeBron, too.

Of the two superstars, 36-year-old Durant likely has a little more trade value, so we’ll have multiple members of Golden State’s young core headed to Phoenix.

The headliners there would be Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski.

Then, you’d need salary filler to get to enough outgoing money to take Durant’s $51.1 million back. Enter Andrew Wiggins and Dennis Schröder (who isn’t eligible to be aggregated with other Warriors until Wednesday).

Finally, since the money doesn’t quite work yet, Golden State would also have to add Gui Santos to the mix.

And from there, the Warriors would have to add some draft capital (without exhausting it).

Given Durant’s age and the fact that Golden State is surrendering a 22-year-old (Kuminga) and a soon-to-be-22-year-old (Podz), firsts in 2025 and 2028 should be enough to at least make Phoenix think (while, again, preserving some assets for the LeBron pursuit).

And Then Add LeBron3 of 4

LeBron James and Stephen CurryNoah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images

Now, to concoct a separate LeBron deal that…

A) doesn’t involve Wiggins, Schröder, Kuminga, Podziemski and Santos;B) doesn’t give up the 2025 or 2028 first-round picks;C) doesn’t push Golden State’s total salaries over $178.1 million; andD) does bring Bronny James up north with his dad (because, of course).The pieces here are more salary filler (because, again, KD is probably the more valuable asset right now) and include Draymond Green (pour one out for the Lightyears-era Warriors, but this is legitimately impossible without moving him), Gary Payton II (a solid perimeter defender to cover for Luka on that end), Buddy Hield (surrounding Luka with shooting is smart) and Lindy Waters III (pure salary filler).

The draft capital, meanwhile, would have to be pick swaps instead of straight-up picks (to avoid violating the Stepien rule, which prohibits teams from being out of the first round in back-to-back years). And since both teams have control of their own firsts in 2026 and 2031, we’ll say L.A. gains swap rights to both of those.

This deal also requires the Lakers to shed a little additional salary, so they might have to rope in a team like the Detroit Pistons to take on a salary like Jarred Vanderbilt’s or Gabe Vincent’s. Of course, Detroit might need to be incentivized to do that, and the Lakers could maybe justify surrendering their last second-rounder (2025) since they have two swaps incoming.

A Pipe Dream4 of 4

Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Kevin DurantDAMIEN MEYER/AFP via Getty Images

Less than a year after we got to witness the trio of Curry, LeBron and Durant win gold in Paris, France, it’s fun to at least consider the possibility of them teaming up in the NBA.

But, as you can see above, the cap and trade gymnastics required to pull it off, especially midseason, is likely impossible.

Golden State would be left to fill several roster spots with veteran minimum salaries. L.A. and Phoenix would have to cut players to get down to the maximum roster size of 15. And if LeBron and KD really were available, other teams around the league would likely be able to beat Golden State’s split offers.

Add to that the fact that all recent reporting has LeBron staying with the Lakers and playing with Luka post-deadline, and it starts to feel like all of this is, at best, a pipe dream.

But we just saw one of those come true on Saturday, so it’s hard to blame the Warriors for exploring another.