There’s a notable shift occurring in the NBA landscape, with veteran stars like Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers finding themselves out of the playoffs, while a new generation of talent competes for the championship. With this shift, speculation has arisen about the possibility of these seasoned superstars teaming up for one last title push.
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Among Golden State supporters, there’s particular interest in the idea of acquiring James or even the Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant. However, NBA insider Brian Windhorst dismissed these notions during a segment on ESPN’s Get Up, stating that a James trade, whether to the Warriors or elsewhere, remains a mere fantasy.
Windhorst cited James’s significant $50 million salary cap hit as a major obstacle, making any trade difficult due to salary matching constraints.
For more updates on this and other NBA news, here’s our latest news round-up for Wednesday, May 1st:
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst doesn’t see LeBron James heading to the Warriors this offseason
The NBA’s LeBron-Curry-Durant torch has passed to a new generation | The Athletic
One of James, Curry, Durant or Leonard was the best player on nine of the 10 NBA champions from 2011 to 2020 … and those four were so good that they also managed to represent the best player on eight of the 10 teams that lost the NBA Finals in that decade. That’s 20 conference champions, 17 of them fronted by one of these four. (Your exceptions being Dirk Nowitzki in 2011 and Jimmy Butler in 2020, while 2013 Leonard wasn’t quite yet what we’d see in the following Finals.)
Now, they can’t even scratch the second round, except for perhaps Leonard making it as an observer. You wonder if any of the four ever will again as leading men; things might only get worse given their age and team situations, with Curry and James facing second-tier status with the Warriors and Lakers in a crowded Western Conference, and the expensive, flawed and asset-mined Suns leaving Durant unlikely to contend until he returns to Oklahoma City. (Wait, am I allowed to say that out loud?)
