4 teams that could realistically land Lakers' LeBron James this summer

1. Golden State Warriors

The formula for winning a championship with LeBron James has always been to surround him with shooters. It worked in Miami, as they had the likes of Mike Miller, Shane Battier, James Jones, and Ray Allen, who were all snipers from long-range. In fact, the Heat ranked 10th and second overall in 3-poont shooting in Bron’s two championship years with the franchise.

Fast forward to the 2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers, who ranked seventh in 3-point shooting and had Kyrie Irving and J.R. Smith, who both made over 40 percent of their triples in the postseason, in addition to Kevin Love.

The Lakers followed a similar recipe in the 2020 playoffs, as Anthony Davis found his shooting touch in the bubble (38 percent from deep on 2.9 attempts), while James made 37 percent of his triples on a respectable 5.7 attempts. Not to mention Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (37.8 percent on 5.7 attempts) and Rajon Rondo- who isn’t known for his shooting but made 40 percent of his treys on 3.1 tries.

All that to say this: the Golden State Warriors are THE perfect team to follow this formula. Steph Curry is the game’s greatest 3-point shooter ever and he’s shown no signs of slowing down. In fact, he’s averaging 28 points on 42.1 percent from deep on 12 attempts per game- the second-most of his career.

Draymond Green is still a legitimate defender, regardless of how unserious he’s become with his antics. And he’s still a good facilitator.

Klay Thompson has mentioned an interest in returning to the Dubs on a lesser role and he’s still shooting 37 percent from deep on nearly nine tries. Surrounding Steph and Klay with LeBron, who can create shooting opportunities for both of them, is a championship formula. Regardless of how old they all are.

And the Warriors have already begun trying to trade for him.

The Lakers couldn’t do anything to prevent James from opting into the final year of his deal to facilitate a trade, as they’d surely rather get assets in return than lose him for nothing. Especially to another Western Conference in-state rival.