A new trade pitch aimed at the Los Angeles Lakers lands a former Boston Celtics NBA champion while sending role-playing power forward Jake LaRavia, who appeared in all 82 regular-season games last season, to the Golden State Warriors.
That champion is 40-year-old Al Horford, and the concept appeared on FanSpo’s user-generated trade creator under the title “Is this necessary?”
The proposal would swap LaRavia and a 2031 second-round pick to Golden State for Horford straight up.
Jake LaRavia, Al Horford Career Snapshots
LaRavia, a 24-year-old forward out of Pasadena, California, took a roundabout route to the NBA. He spent two seasons at Indiana State before transferring to Wake Forest, where he earned second-team All-ACC honors as a junior. Minnesota drafted him 19th overall in 2022 and flipped his rights to Memphis that night.
After three-plus seasons with the Grizzlies and a February 2025 trade to Sacramento, LaRavia signed a two-year, $12 million deal with the Lakers last summer. He started 43 of 82 games in 2025-26, averaging 8.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists on 45.9 percent shooting, according to game log data from ESPN. His $6 million salary for 2026-27 covers the final year of that deal.
Horford needs little introduction after 19 NBA seasons. The Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, native won back-to-back NCAA titles at Florida, went third overall to Atlanta in 2007, and later played an important role in the Boston Celtics’ 2024 championship.
He signed with the Warriors last summer and averaged 8.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 45 games.
“I’m not going to limit myself,” Horford said of his two-year, $14 million deal with Golden State, as quoted by ESPN‘s Anthony Slater and Shams Charania. “As long as I feel good and I’m helping the team and we’re doing great things, we’ll keep it going.”
Al Horford-Jake LaRavia Trade Breakdown
Salary-wise, the swap is close to a wash, with roughly $822,000 separating the two contracts. Golden State would clear a needed roster spot, dropping to 11 standard contracts before climbing back to the league-mandated 14. Los Angeles would take on slightly more long-term money, since Horford carries a 2027-28 player option that LaRavia’s expiring deal does not.
The trade could not happen right away, but soon. Horford cannot be traded before Oct. 6, 2026, under rules tied to the contract he just signed.
Competitively, the swing favors the Lakers, whose bench could use Horford’s floor-spacing and rim protection over LaRavia’s streakier three-point shooting. Golden State would get younger and cheaper at the position, aligning with a roster leaning toward experience elsewhere.
The 2031 second-round pick attached to the deal originated with the Washington Wizards, part of the return Los Angeles landed for Deandre Ayton in a July trade for Jaden Hardy, according to ESPN’s report on that trade. Washington’s recent drafting has skewed toward the middle of the second round, so the pick likely lands there rather than near the top. For the Lakers, giving it up thins an already limited stash of future assets in exchange for immediate frontcourt help. For Golden State, adding a distant second-rounder costs almost nothing.
Lakers Trade Pitch Lands Celtics Champion Al Horford For $12 Million Forward