Stephen Curry, LeBron James USA success calls intended Lakers trade into question

No rivalry has done more to define the past 10 years of the Association than Stephen Curry versus LeBron James. With four clashes in the NBA Finals and another in the second round of the playoffs, Curry and James have produced some of the most iconic battles in recent history.

At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, rivals have become teammates as Curry and James have taken on leadership roles with Team USA.

It's been awe-inspiring to see the two preeminent forces of their generation playing side by side in a competitive setting for the first time ever. It's been equally as intriguing to watch them develop tactics that have opposing defenses at their mercy.

According to Joe Vardon of The Athletic, Curry and James have been running a play called, "Too small," which capitalizes on Curry's screen-setting and James' ability to exploit mismatches.

"I’m a good screener and can cause some confusion for a guy like (LeBron) having the ball,” Curry said, before the Americans’ practice in preparation for an Olympic quarterfinal against Brazil Tuesday. “We do it a little bit in Golden State where you have somebody else having the ball and me setting it, and I have a lot of different actions you can run, but if you get (LeBron) going downhill, good luck to anybody trying to stop him and having me come off into space. "

Curry continued:

"Just try to make teams make decisions and the more decisions you can make a defense make the better chance you have to create confusion."

Far be it for me to tell an NBA head coach how to run their offense, but one can't help but think of a specific Lakers player who can play the screening role in this scenario.

Is trading D'Angelo Russell the right idea before he plays for JJ Redick?

Creating mismatches has become the name of the game in the modern NBA, with motion offenses often enabling advantageous isolation opportunities. That's exactly what Team USA has orchestrated with Curry and James, with the NBA's all-time leading scorer matching up with smaller defenders.

There's no reason the Lakers can't run similar action for James with a player who certainly isn't Curry, but has a similar skill set: D'Angelo Russell.

Russell, who stands at 6'3" and 193 pounds, could easily occupy the Curry role in this play to generate easy offense for James. He'll need to work on his screen-setting, but it's worth noting that this pairing has the necessary skill level to pull this play off.

This is due, in no small part, to the fact that, if defenders decide to cheat off of Russell instead of allowing the switch, he can punish them in an almost Curry-like manner.

No one shoots the ball as well as Curry, but Russell is one of the few who can claim to come close. This past season, he knocked down a franchise record 226 three-point field goals at an extraordinarily efficient rate of 41.5 percent from beyond the arc.

Russell was one of just eight NBA players to make at least 200 three-point field goals while shooting upwards of 40.0 percent from distance.

Russell has been shopped in trade discussions, but this could be a new opportunity to explore his potential before a deal materializes. The end result could be tapping into higher levels of his potential, thus preventing the need for a trade, or identifying something that works with whoever he's traded for.

In either scenario, the Lakers would be unlocking an opportunity to make the game easier for James as he enters his age-40 season. That would be the ultimate offseason victory.