New Blockbuster Three-Team Trade Idea Sends LeBron James to Thunder, Lakers Get New Center, Hawks Add PF Depth

Although it's always difficult to predict exactly how the offseason will affect the upcoming NBA season, it seems clear that the Eastern Conference is going to be up for grabs. The Indiana Pacers won the conference last year in one of the most surprising championship runs in recent memory, but they are going to be without Tyrese Haliburton for the year. The Boston Celtics have always been a force in the Eastern Conference, but Jayson Tatum went down with an Achilles injury in the second round and will miss the upcoming season. The Bucks made a big move to add Myles Turner, but they had to cut Damian Lillard to do it. In short, the only three teams that seem to be locks for postseason returns are the New York Knicks, Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers. That leaves an opportunity for several teams to take advantage.

The Atlanta Hawks are certainly doing their best to seize that opportunity. After trading for Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis and drafting Georgia power forward Asa Newell, Atlanta reached a pair of huge free agent signings. The Hawks signed a marquee free agent in Wolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker to a four-year, $62 million deal in a sign and trade that sent a 2027 2nd-round pick (via CLE) to the Wolves. Then, the Hawks signed free agent guard Luke Kennard to a one-year, $11 million deal. They also got an unprotected first-round pick from the New Orleans Pelicans in a draft-night trade. Given the massive injuries in the Eastern Conference next season, it seems that the Atlanta Hawks are going for it and making moves to put themselves in position to contend. One area they could still use some depth is at small forward or another ball-handler.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the best position to repeat that a team has been in the second apron era. They've extended all three members of their core trio - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams - on long-term deals that will keep them under contract under 2031. Their roster is extremely young and they aren't going to lose any major contributors. They aren't under any sort of urgency to make a big-time trade. However, even though they won the title, they didn't demolish the competition on their way to the top like many expected them to. Both the Nuggets and Pacers pushed them to seven games while there were several times that the offense became heavily reliant on SGA's isolation scoring. If the price is reasonable, it wouldn't be entirely surprising to see them push in some of their excessive draft capital for a superstar.

As wild as it may sound, LeBron James could be that superstar. Arguably the greatest player of all time, James has been making a lot of noise this summer about his discontent with the Lakers. He opted into his $52.6 million player option for the upcoming season, according to ESPN's Shams Charania, but some of the quotes that came from Charania's story left the impression that a trade could be possible for James and the Lakers.

Reporting on @SportsCenter -- LeBron James opts in on $52.6 million for the 2025-26 season but is evaluating his Lakers future: pic.twitter.com/ZQWEJLUNqo
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 29, 2025

Furthermore, ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Briant Windhorst revealed that James was not given a heads-up about the sale of the franchise from the Buss family to Mark Walter, whereas the 26-year-old Dončić was. The Lakers also didn't offer James an extension, according to ESPN, suggesting that there is no urgency to make James part of their future. While it still is unlikely the Lakers move James, but this at least opens the door to the possibility. It is not the worst idea either. James would have suitors, even with his enormous salary, and the Lakers can continue to build around Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. This would also give the Lakers more room to sign Reaves to an extension.

If James wants out, the Thunder would be an extremely attractive destination for him. The team's core would largely remain intact upon acquiring him and he would likely be able to close his career out with a title, furthering his already-impressive legacy.

So how about a trade where each of these teams tries to fill a need?

It should be noted that this is just a speculative and fun exercise to see what kind of moves can be made, not what I think the Hawks or any other teams should do or will do. That is all.

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)

Why the Hawks would do this deal: Dieng hasn't been a major factor for the Thunder, but he's been consistently excellent in the G-League and he's still only 22 years old. At 6'9, he's an example of a forward that might take time to develop and the Thunder can't give him those minutes. He's been frequently injured as well. He recorded a career-high STL% of 2% last year and his perimeter defense was one of his calling cards as a draft prospect. For a cheap price, the Hawks could easily acquire Dieng and use him as depth for Porzingis and Jalen Johnson. Dieng's salary would also fit neatly into the TPEs the Hawks have at their disposal.

Why the Hawks would not do this deal: There's very little reason why the Hawks would not do this deal, but they are trying to also find minutes for Asa Newell as a backup four and have invested much more into him as a first-round pick. Therefore, it's very likely that Dieng is just a luxury for them that they don't need to acquire.

Why the Thunder would do this deal: 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. Joe didn't factor into the playoff rotation for OKC, so there isn't much of a loss by moving on from him. Bronny James didn't make much of an impact his rookie season, but he's had a great Summer League so far and looks to be a future rotation player if he can continue to develop. With LeBron in tow, the Thunder would be ridiculously favored atop the Western Conference and they'd be able to have an answer fo when the defense closes in on stopping SGA.

Why the Thunder would not do this deal: Barring the obvious fact that they just won the title, the Thunder also can afford to be patient and push in their chips for a star that fits with their timeline. James is 40 years old and they would likely only get two or three years of championship-caliber play from him.

Why the Lakers would do this deal: 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.

Why the Lakers would not do this deal: Trading LeBron to the reigning champions significantly complicates LA's odds of winning the title. Furthermore, both players cut into their future cap space and that does not fit with the Lakers' vision of preserving cap space to build around Doncic.

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