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While the Los Angeles Lakers signed center DeAndre Ayton, obtaining a starting center that was needed coming out of last season, the biggest storyline has been around star LeBron James. With all the rumors surrounding the Lakers and James, this NBA insider provides a certain scenario that would be questionable for the team.
After James opted into his player option, his agent, Rich Paul, made comments stating that while they understand Los Angeles's efforts to build the future, the superstar will do everything to compete in the present. Leading some to believe that a trade could be requested, though nothing has been official yet, Sam Amick of The Athletic would present the situation on “The Rich Eisen Show,” that if he continues to play after this season, it will “potentially be problematic.”
“The Lakers, as I reported the other day, did not discuss any contract situation with LeBron that went beyond this season,” Amick said. “That is the action that speaks volumes about how they see him right now. Their ideal scenario was going to be that he announced his retirement and allowed them to celebrate him for the entire year.”
“That would have been the cleanest, easiest way for this relationship to come to an end. His desire to continue playing—which is obviously his right—will potentially be problematic, where they just have to reach a point where, you know, they can’t continue doling out $50-plus million in that kind of way to him,” Amick continued. “So that’s where I think he’s looking at everything, monitoring, and we’ll see where it goes. But it does feel a little crunchy and dicey at the moment.”
LeBron James wants out of the Lakers?
As the speculation around James wanting out of the Lakers will continue, nothing is set in stone in regards to what the 40-year-old will do along with the team itself. The rumor mill will keep chugging along, especially with the recent reporting from John Gambadoro, usually a Phoenix Suns insider, but said someone close to the Los Angeles franchise relayed that James “wants out” of the team and the team wants “him gone.”
“LeBron wants out of LA and they want him gone,” Gambadoro wrote on X, formerly Twitter.. “Watch Game 1, how disinterested LeBron was.”
Subsequently, Gambadoro would go on the “Burns and Gambo Show” and say that James “does not like playing” with star teammate Luka Doncic.
“LeBron [James] does not like playing with Luka,” Gambadoro said, via Yahoo Sports. “LeBron is not fond of playing with Luka. The Lakers are going to turn their attention to build around Luka, not LeBron.”
It remains to be seen what's true and what isn't in the Lakers' sphere, but the team is looking to improve after finishing third in the West and being eliminated in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
