Rich Paul Shut down Potential LeBron James Trade to Western Conference Foe

The Los Angeles Lakers have had a relatively quiet offseason, which isn’t a good thing, as they didn’t do much to change the roster around LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

The only notable additions the Lakers made were taking rookies Dalton Knecht and Bronny James in the 2024 NBA Draft. With LA running it back with the same roster and a new head coach, it should be an interesting season at Crypto.com Arena.

However, before we can look ahead to the action on the court this season, we need to discuss the newest report from longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein about LeBron James and the idea of him potentially being traded to the Golden State Warriors.

In his latest newsletter on Substack, Stein reported that the Lakers “would have reluctantly” entertained trade talks with Golden State before last season’s NBA trade deadline if the superstar wanted the team to “seriously engage” the Warriors on a potential deal.

"It is believed that the Lakers would have reluctantly entertained trade conversations with the Warriors before last February’s trade deadline if James wanted them to seriously engage Golden State on a potential deal. Yet league sources say that the reported talks between the teams at the time never got that far in large part because James’ agent Rich Paul was adamantly opposed to the idea of LeBron James swapping Southern California for Northern California. Sources say Rich Paul implored both teams to scrap the concept — despite some owner-to-owner dialogue between the Warriors’ Joe Lacob and the Lakers’ Jeanie Buss and Green’s determination to lobby James to push for relocation to the Bay Area — largely because he wanted to insulate James from potential backlash over switching teams for the fourth time in his career."

- Marc Stein

However, Stein writes that the reported trade discussions never got far thanks to Rich Paul, who is LeBron’s agent. The longtime NBA scribe said Paul was “adamantly opposed” to the idea of James going to the Warriors.

Paul wanted to shield James from the backlash he would receive if he switched teams for the fourth time in his illustrious career.

It’s not shocking to see Paul looking out for James as he would’ve received scrutiny for exiting Los Angeles and teaming up with Stephen Curry. 

James has been a huge fan of Curry’s game over the years and the idea of them playing together in the Bay Area would have extended the Warriors’ championship window. Not to mention, these two have battled for years in the NBA Finals.

We saw how those two played off each other in the Olympics this summer, and it was a sight to see if you enjoy good basketball. Nonetheless, we'll watch James finish his career with the Lakers.

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