Subscribe
Follow Us
Although LeBron James hasn't formally requested a trade, it appears that several teams around the league are looking into ways that they can aquire the four-time NBA Champion. On today's trade deadline edition of NBA Today, Dave McMenamin gave a pivotal update about the future of James with the Lakers and potential interest for his services in the trade market.
“LeBron hasn’t had any discussions with the Lakers about wanting a trade. Rich Paul said four teams contacted him in the last 24 hours wanting to talk trades, but there weren’t any substantive conversations with those teams…Right now, LeBron is focused on playing on a championship-caliber roster. Rich told me: ‘There are no guarantees in building one, but we know what it looks like — and what it doesn’t look like.'”
He continued, “Rich also told me that he understands that, in this moment, it’s important for the Lakers to look out for Luka Dončić. But as a representative of LeBron James, he has to make sure he’s looking out for LeBron’s best interests as well.”
The conversations about James potentially being traded from the Lakers started to circulate after he opted into his $52.6 million option to return to the team for the upcoming season. Per ESPN's Brian Windhorst, this is the first time he's exercised his player option.
“There's something that's unusual here, and it's unusual for LeBron to be in this spot. He's signed nine contracts in his illustrious career. Eight of them have had player options in them. Not once in the eight times has he ever taken that player option. He's always opted to sign in to a new contract. This is the first time in 22 years that he's ever been on a contract in his last year.”
To further enflame the conversations, Rich Paul's statement on Sunday morning vaguely hinted that James could be interested in moving on and competing for a championship elsewhere in the final years of his career.
“LeBron wants to compete for a championship,” Paul said. “He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we've had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.”
The next few weeks will be interesting to see what will occur with the Lakers and if Rob Pelinka will actively work to build out the roster to properly field a contender. If they don't, the four mystery teams will certainly start to look into options to bolster their championship chase by adding LeBron James to their roster.
