It Has Begun: Shams Is Now Reporting That The Warriors Want To Trade For A Star While Pretty Much Describing LeBron James

Earlier this week I blogged about how it finally looked like LeBron was going to lose a few rounds in his battle against Father Time

and in that blog I played around with the idea of what might be possible in terms of the Lakers future, should the team not turn things around by February

I bring this up because look at that little bit of copy at the bottom of this graphic. In about two weeks, LeBron will officially be allowed to be traded. Should the Lakers free fall continue through the trade deadline in February and LeBron's play never really recovers, what do they do?

There's a case to be made that the "smart" basketball move would be to try and turn LeBron into assets you can use for the next stage of your rebuild. At the same time, trading LeBron midseason sounds rather insane on the surface. Do you just eat the lost season, hope he picks up his player option, and maybe signs another 1+1? If they somehow know he's going to retire after this season, do you take 60 cents on the dollar to perhaps get ahead of things? I find it unlikely they trade LeBron in the same season they brought in his son, but at what point do the Lakers shift gears and start to think about their future in a post-LeBron world? Especially if his caliber of play might be doing more harm than good?

Why am I bringing that up again? Well, all it took was one little report update from Shams

Oh, the Warriors are looking for a scorer/playmaker to play next to Steph Curry? Hmmmmmm….who does that describe exactly? You have to remember, Shams is a Klutch guy. Who's tied to Klutch? Ah right, LeBron. 

While he suggests that the answer may be Kuminga, I think we all know what that truly means. If he takes off and turns into a real player, that just makes the eventual LeBron trade easier for the Lakers to stomach. All I'm asking is you just keep following the breadcrumbs.

All summer during the Olympics we heard about how much Steph/LeBron loved playing next to each other and how cool it would be to maybe one day be on the same team. Then they started to flirt with each other on IG while somehow forgetting to tag KD as well (wink wink)

and now here we are, with both the Lakers and Warriors going through a bit of underachievement at the quarter pole of the season and Shams is on TV talking about GS trading for a star who possesses the exact skillset at LeBron

Listen, I get how insane it sounds to potentially flip LeBron midseason, especially when the Lakers just drafted his kid because LeBron demanded it. But I also know if there was a situation he'd probably be OK with, it's going up to GS to play with his buddy Steph, especially after the Olympics.

I'm just saying, remember this moment once we get to February if neither of these two teams has turned around their season. We'll all act shocked in the moment if it happens, but maybe the signs have been staring us in the face this whole time.