One of the biggest stories surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason has been the future of superstar LeBron James. While James opted in to the final season of his contract, it came along with a statement from agent Rich Paul that seemed to suggest that if the Lakers weren’t committed to winning and competing for a championship this season, LeBron could look to move elsewhere.
Paul would come behind later to clarify that statement and make it clear that there have been no conversations about a trade from the Lakers and that both the team and superstar Luka Doncic were informed of the statement before it came out.
A LeBron trade still seems highly unlikely, but that hasn’t stopped some teams from at least reaching out as, according to Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN, there have been inquiries from a few teams to the Lakers on a potential deal:
It’s one of the biggest topics of conversation around the league. The concept of a trade is not impossible — nothing is impossible in the NBA after the Doncic trade — but it is unlikely due to James’ large salary and his no-trade clause.
There were a few inquiries from eyebrow-raised teams, sources said, just to gauge whether this was something or nothing. For now, there is no action. But it is surely being monitored.
As the report noted, there is no action right now and a deal is extremely unlikely, though not impossible. But if there is a possibility that James could be available via trade, teams are going to reach out to the Lakers. Of course, James also has a no-trade clause, so if they did decide to move on, he could basically pick his destination.
By all accounts, the most likely outcome is LeBron suiting up with the purple and gold for the eighth season and the two sides continue what has been, for the most part, a prosperous relationship. But teams are going to keep a close eye on everything going on between James and the Lakers just in case anything changes.
Of course, another factor to consider with LeBron James is the fact that one of his biggest motivations in continuing to play is that he is able to team with his son Bronny James on the Lakers. For his part, Bronny isn’t paying attention to any of the speculation surrounding his dad.
