The Golden State Warriors are stuck in the middle. At 13-12, they are good enough to scare teams, but not dominant enough to scare anybody in May.
Stephen Curry is still putting up 27.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.0 assists on 47.1% from the field at 37 years old, but the clock is screaming at this front office.
Enter ESPN’s wild idea: a four-team blockbuster where the Warriors go all-in for Dallas Mavericks star Anthony Davis, the Mavericks reset around Cooper Flagg, the Los Angeles Lakers finally land Buddy Hield, and the Charlotte Hornets walk away with Dalton Knecht after last year’s failed trade drama.
It is the kind of trade that would break the internet. But would it actually make sense for everybody involved?
ESPN’s Proposed Trade Idea
Golden State Warriors Receive: Anthony Davis, Mason Plumlee
Dallas Mavericks Receive: Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga, 2026 first-round pick (via Warriors)
Los Angeles Lakers Receive: Buddy Hield
Charlotte Hornets Receive: Maxi Kleber, Dalton Knecht, cash considerations (via Lakers)
So the Warriors cash in a huge chunk of their remaining future for Davis. The Mavericks move off a $54.1 million-per-year big man and pivot toward depth and flexibility.
The Lakers jump into the chaos just to steal a shooter. And the Hornets finally get the young wing they thought they were getting at last year’s deadline before the Mark Williams-Knecht trade was rescinded over the physical drama.
On paper, it’s spicy. In practice, it’s complicated.
Why The Warriors Do This Move
From the Warriors’ side, the logic is simple: if you are going to move Draymond Green, do it for a star that actually changes your ceiling. Davis absolutely qualifies.
Davis is averaging 19.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists on 52.3% from the field for the Mavericks this season, still anchoring a top-tier interior defense when he is right.
His rim protection next to Jimmy Butler and Curry would instantly give the Warriors one of the nastiest playoff cores in the league. You could run Curry-Butler pick-and-rolls, Butler-Davis bully ball, or spam Curry-Davis two-man actions that force defenses into impossible decisions.
Offensively, Davis gives them something Green simply cannot anymore: a legitimate 20-point threat. Green is at 8.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.5 assists on 38.2% from the field this season.
He still sees the floor like a point guard and remains an elite communicator, but teams do not care if he shoots. In the playoffs, that always shows up.
Defensively, there is a trade-off. Green is still one of the smartest defenders alive, able to guard up and down the lineup and quarterback the scheme. Davis is more of a back-line eraser.
You lose some of the switch-everything versatility that defined Golden State’s dynasty, but you gain a true shot-blocking presence they have not had in years. With Curry aging and Butler carrying heavy offensive responsibility, having Davis behind them could actually extend their window.
The risk is massive, though. Davis is on the books for $54.1 million this season and remains under contract through 2027-28. He has a long injury history and has already had multiple big surgeries.
If his body breaks down again, the Warriors are stuck with three super-max-level contracts in their mid-30s. That is how you end up in cap hell with no draft capital and no young talent.
Giving up Jonathan Kuminga and a 2026 first hurts that future even more. Kuminga is putting up 12.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists, and he is only 23. In a post-Curry world, he is one of the few internal paths to relevance.
On top of that, you are ripping out a piece of the franchise’s soul. Green is not just a player; he is the emotional identity of this era. Moving him means admitting the original core is officially over. That is not a small thing for ownership or for Curry himself.
If this trade ever became real, it would be the Warriors screaming, “We have two more years to win a title, and we do not care what happens after.” It is a move that makes a ton of basketball sense on the floor… but the off-court cost is enormous.
The Mavs Could Come Out On Top
For the Mavericks, this is basically a “we are done pretending this works” trade. They are 9-16, sitting 12th in the West, even with Davis stuffing the box score and Cooper Flagg flashing serious star potential as a rookie.
Davis has been good. Those 19.6 points and 10.2 rebounds on 52.3% from the field are not empty numbers. When he has been healthy, he still looks like a top-20 player who can control both ends.
The problem is the timeline and the money. The Mavs already locked into big deals for Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson, and that $54.1 million number for Davis dominates their cap sheet.
In ESPN’s structure, swapping Davis for Green, Kuminga, and a first-round pick lets the Mavericks pivot toward a more balanced roster.
Green gives them a defensive brain and a culture-setter that this group frankly lacks. His stats do not jump off the page, but that line screams “connective tissue.” Put Green next to Flagg, P.J. Washington, and Dereck Lively’s replacement committee, and suddenly you have a frontcourt that actually knows where to be every possession.
Kuminga is the swing piece. At 12.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, he is already a productive wing, and his physical tools are ridiculous. The Mavericks would finally have a young slashing forward to grow with Flagg instead of living entirely on jump shooting and post-ups.
If Kuminga hits his ceiling, you could argue he becomes more valuable than what this version of Davis will be in three years.
The 2026 first-rounder from Golden State is the safety net. If the Warriors fall apart, that pick suddenly looks juicy. If they stay good, it is still one more asset the Mavericks can use in the next big swing.
Of course, there is risk. Green is 35, and his body has been through everything. His game ages well, but you are still betting years of your future on a veteran who can decline fast. And giving up the best player in the deal always feels nasty, especially for a franchise that just got dragged for trading Luka Doncic.
Still, if the Mavericks’ front office has already decided that the Davis experiment is a dead end, this kind of package is about as clean a reset as they can reasonably hope for.
A Great Shooter For The Lakers
The Lakers might be the biggest winners in terms of pure value. They are 17-7, right in the thick of the West race behind Luka Doncic’s MVP-level season, and all they give up here is cash and the willingness to absorb salary.
In return, they get Buddy Hield.
Hield is having a down year in Golden State with 8.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 18.8 minutes per game, shooting 40.4% from the field and just 30.5% from three. That three-point number is brutal by his standards, but this is still one of the most prolific shooters of the last decade, with a career 39.5% mark from deep.
For the Lakers, the bet is simple: put Hield next to Doncic and hope gravity plus cleaner looks snap him out of the slump. Defenses already have to load up on Luka, Austin Reaves, and Deandre Ayton. Add Hield flying around screens, and you get fewer bodies in the paint and even more driving lanes.
ESPN also highlighted the contract piece. Hield is under team control at $9.7 million next season and $10 million the year after, numbers that are far from crippling for a player who can still swing playoff games when the shot is falling.
Is he the perfect fit? No. Hield is a below-average defender who will get hunted in the playoffs, and if the shot never fully comes back, you are tying up cap space in a specialist who no longer specializes. But for a contender with Dončić in his absolute prime, paying that price just to supercharge the spacing around him makes a ton of sense.
The Hornets Finally Get Knecht
This part of the trade almost feels like fan-fiction payback. The Hornets tried to get Dalton Knecht at last season’s deadline, agreeing to a deal that would have sent Mark Williams to the Lakers in exchange for Knecht, Cam Reddish, and picks before the trade was rescinded due to Williams’ failed physical.
In ESPN’s construction, Charlotte finally gets their guy.
Right now, the Hornets are 7-17 and deep into another rebuild. Knecht is exactly the type of bet they should be making: a 23-year-old shooter on a rookie contract who can grow with LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller.
His movement, shooting, and size on the wing fit perfectly with what Charlotte has been trying to build for years.
Maxi Kleber is more of a cap and culture piece. He is an $11 million expiring big who can still hit threes and defend in space when healthy, giving Charlotte a professional adult in the frontcourt and a potential flip candidate at the next deadline.
The added cash considerations from the Lakers are just a sweetener.
For a team that is not going anywhere this season, turning some flexibility into a long-term shooting prospect and a playable veteran big is a clear win. If Knecht hits, this becomes one of those sneaky moves everyone references in three years.
Final Thoughts
On paper, this is one of those rare trades where every team can talk themselves into it.
The Warriors get a star big man they have never stopped dreaming about. The Mavericks get younger, more flexible, and maybe more balanced around Cooper Flagg.
The Lakers grab a cheap shooter with real upside if the three-ball normalizes. The Hornets finally lock in the Knecht marriage that got blocked by the league last year.
In reality, though? This feels wildly unlikely.
Moving Green would be a seismic emotional hit in Golden State, and multiple reports already say the Warriors’ front office does not view a Davis trade as a realistic option.
The Mavericks would be admitting that their franchise-altering bet on Davis failed in less than a year. That is a hard pill to swallow, even if the logic is sound.
If any part of this framework ever came close, it would probably be the back half: the Lakers getting involved as the third or fourth team to grab Hield, and the Hornets finally landing Knecht in some variation. Those are the cleanest fits and the lowest-risk moves.
But the headline piece? Davis in a Warriors jersey, Green in Dallas? That is the kind of thing that belongs in ESPN trade columns and fan debates more than in the actual transaction log.
Still, it is fun to imagine Curry, Butler, and Davis walking into a playoff series together. If the Warriors ever decide to blow up the old core for one last superteam, this is exactly the type of swing that could change everything.
