Lakers Trade Pitch Moves LeBron James to Thunder for Multiple Picks and Players

Some continue to suggest that the Los Angeles Lakers could move on from LeBron James. While there have certainly been a few interesting rumors floating around, the fact of the matter here is that it doesn’t make too much sense for the Lakers to move on from him unless they find a package they love in return. 

One could argue that the Lakers could use some draft capital, and it makes sense so they can make other deals, but at this stage of James’ career, it isn’t likely that teams would be willing to give up too much. 

The Trade Idea

When examining a recent deal, Sports Illustrated recently proposed one that would send him to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder, having just won a championship, may be interested in adding someone like James, but they likely don’t have much of a reason to even attempt trading for him. 

The deal would be as followed from SI:

Hawks Receive: Ousmane Dieng

Thunder Receive: LeBron James, Bronny James, 2032 2nd-round pick (via ATL)

Lakers Receive: Isaiah Hartenstein, Isaiah Joe, 2026 1st-round pick (via UTA, top-8 protected), 2027 1st-round pick (via DEN, top-5 protected)

“The Lakers’ biggest deficiency – excuse the pun – has been their lack of a starting big man. Hartenstein was very effective for the Thunder as part of their double-big lineup with Chet Holmgren and averaged a career-best 11.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists. 

“He had a stellar TREB% of 20.6% last season and still recored a solid BLK% of 3.9%. He’s the exact archetype of center that has thrived with Luka Doncic in the past and he’d relegate Jaxson Hayes to a backup role. Joe shot 41.2% from deep on 6.3 attempts per game and he’s an excellent catch-and-shoot option. He is a somewhat one-dimensional player due to his questionable defense, but he’d give the Lakers needed regular season depth,” they wrote.

Benefits for Both Sides

Getting two first round picks back would be intriguing for the Los Angeles Lakers, as it isn’t likely that many other contending teams would want to give up much more. 

It’s also important to note that a lot of contending teams that James might want to play on, the Lakers could trade him to, likely don’t have many picks in general. The Thunder are one of the few teams that do, but it’s also fair to question whether they’d be interested in even trading for him. 

Despite that, Sports Illustrated believes there’s a case. 

“Even at 40 years old, James finished in the 99th percentile (39.4 AST%) for AST% among all wings/bigs, shot 74% at the rim (82nd percentile) and 38% from deep (73rd percentile) while playing in 70 games. He averaged 23.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists even at his age and playing off of Doncic. 

“In OKC, James would have the ideal situation where he can play alongside an established core of SGA, Williams and Holmgren while being supported by OKC’s considerable depth. He can still hold up on defense, meaning that the Thunder would only be sacrificing the rebounding advantage they enjoyed with Hartenstein,” they wrote. 

There’s plenty that has to play out for the Los Angeles Lakers and James over the next few weeks to months. Perhaps things could get ugly in the near future, but from an off-court standpoint, too, it’s tough to see why James would ever consider leaving Los Angeles.

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