Warriors' Shocking Plan to Acquire LeBron James & Kawhi Leonard Revealed

The Golden State Warriors are reportedly serious about signing LeBron James this summer. While that could certainly re-energize this franchise, the move alone is not enough to create a title-worthy team.

The front office needs to do more, and as it turns out, they might be planning something big. Aside from signing James, they are also reportedly looking to acquire two-time Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard in a trade.

The idea for this supposed Warriors "grand plan" was floated by LetsGoWarriors.com on Substack. The plan includes trading away Jimmy Butler and Brandin Podziemski to the Los Angeles Clippers.

James is an unrestricted free agent this summer, and the Warriors can make moves so they can offer him the mid-level exception. That's worth around $15 million, but despite that financial caveat, James is reportedly curious about joining Golden State.

Meanwhile, the Clippers need to decide on Leonard. He is entering the final year of his contract in 2026-27, and he'll turn 35 at the end of the month.

The Clippers might decide to start fresh instead of trying to build around the aging Leonard, and trading him away rather than letting him walk next year helps accelerate that process.

The trio of James, Leonard, and Curry will feature three stars who are all 35 and older once the 2026-27 season starts. Despite their ages, all three are still highly effective.

James just put up unprecedented numbers for a 41-year-old vet. Leonard experienced a career resurgence last season and is still very much a two-way star. Curry remains one of the deadliest floor-spacers in the league, who, on a good night, can still torch a defense.

Additionally, they'll have Draymond Green. He's already 36, but he still does the little things that helped elevate the Warriors to a dynasty a decade ago. He defends, scraps for the ball, sets up others, and he's the very definition of an enforcer.

He also has a player option for next season, which he could decline. Doing so will help the Warriors get out of their tricky financial situation and create the space they need to actually offer James a contract.

Although if you were to tell a fan 10 years ago that LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, and Stephen Curry could all team up, they'd probably laugh at the improbability of it.

LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, and Stephen Curry Were All Rivals

In 2013 and 2014, Kawhi Leonard was not yet the superstar-caliber player he would become. He was a 3-and-D specialist on the San Antonio Spurs, which was still led by Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili.

At the same time, LeBron James was also still on the Miami Heat. In back-to-back years, these two powerhouse franchises battled each other in the NBA Finals. Both times, Leonard was a problem for James.

In fact, Leonard's rise truly began due to his performance during that rivalry.

In 2016-2017, he also seemed to be the answer to a stacked Warriors squad that featured Kevin Durant. During that regular season, the Spurs, which were now led by Leonard, were the only team that seemed to genuinely pose a threat to Golden State.

That was also almost the case during the playoffs, but Leonard got injured in Game 1 of the 2017 WCF.

It was also around that time that the LeBron James-Stephen Curry rivalry was heating up. The Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers faced each other in the NBA Finals from 2015 to 2018.

The Warriors won three of those four battles, but James and the Cavs arguably had the better series win, coming back from a 3-1 Finals deficit in the 2016 Finals to best the Curry-led squad.

After the 2018 Finals, LeBron James left the Cavs and went West to the LA Lakers. That meant there would be no more Finals battles between him and Stephen Curry.

But who should rise to challenge Curry? The Toronto Raptors, led by none other than Kawhi Leonard. The Raptors would win the 2019 Finals in six games, effectively ending the Kevin Durant era in the Bay Area.