Where LeBron James ends up next year is going to be one of the major storylines of the offseason. While the three-time Olympic gold-medalist hasn’t public announced whether he will retire or not, some around the NBA believe the Lakers should part ways with him regardless.
“The first thing they have to do is move off LeBron,” an Eastern Conference front office executive said to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “Let him walk and use the space to retool around Luka. Keeping Reaves is critical. [Doncic] plays best with another ball handler/creator like with Kyrie [Irving] and [Jalen] Brunson.”
“Having optionality and an eye on the “long-term future” is something that Lakers GM Rob Pelinka cited for why the team turned down several offers at this year’s trade deadline.
“We felt like creating optionality or having optionality now is really a positive thing for us this coming offseason,” Pelinka said.
“Because there’s some teams that maybe have gotten too deep into the aprons. And I think players, we see around the league, become available when teams get in that position.”
Reading Between The Lines
Clearly, the Lakers don’t view this year as an all-in moment surrounding a possible final season for James. Aside from that, readers can look at McMenamin’s article and extract a multitude of takes.
RealGM, for example, took the part where McMenamin’s reported that the Lakers would welcome him back and made that their headline.
McMenamin wrote that sources told him that if James wanted to play a 24th season, he would be “welcomed back” while adding that his salary would be a factor.
If James wants to play a 24th season, he would be welcomed back in L.A., sources told ESPN.
Pelinka declared before the start of this season that he would love it if James retired a Laker, and, sources told ESPN, that sentiment was meant to reflect a 2026 retirement or a 2027 retirement, if James intends to extend his career.
If James were to return, his salary would be a major factor in determining exactly what kind of team L.A. could build.
In the wake of the newscycle, ESPN’s daytime programing had analysts explaining that the Lakers should “absolutely” want to have James back, calling him a “cheat code.”
What’s Actually Best For The Lakers?
Like Michael Jordan on the Wizards, the narratives and information coming out likely won’t directly align with who the player is at the given moment. Like Jordan’s final seasons, James is remains an extremely productive player while not portraying the MVP-level superstar talents he once had.
James’ current 20.6 PER is a career-low for him aside from his rookie season. That figure is still great. For reference, it’s better than any of Julius Randle‘s three All-Star seasons. It was better than Tyrese Maxey‘s initial All-Star appearance in 2024 (19.8) and surpasses the career PERs of several “stars” currently in their primes, including Jalen Brunson (19.26), Donovan Mitchell (20.29) and Jaylen Brown (17.32).
Many NBA franchises would be happy to have 41-year-old LeBron James as their top star. If we’re talking strictly about the player on the court, the majority would take him as their No. 2 — even with salary that puts him among the highest paid in the league for one more year.
Salary isn’t the only factor for the Lakers, however. With Luka Doncic as the new face of the franchise, being the Robin to Luka’s Batman is something any co-star will have to accept; with new ownership in place, any Robin will have to understand that he doesn’t have the political power to pull the same strings behind the scenes. Not to mention Bronny James‘ place on the team and that non-elite stars don’t typically get to dictate extra roster spots — unless your a franchise like the Washington Wizards aiming to please players at all costs.
But again, this is the Lakers. As we wait to see whether LeBron is truly willing to accept the new reality, the team will be linked to any and all replacement(s) who would be seen as an upgrade.
A Western Conference executive told ESPN he believes Antetokounmpo is the “big prize” the Lakers hope to land, should the Milwaukee Bucks decide to trade the 2021 NBA Finals MVP in the offseason.
Giannis to the Lakers is a pipe-dream but the thought of it further cracks open the door in the fans’ mind about the team replacing James. Even the narrative that Los Angeles would be better with a depth of starting-level talents around Doncic (like acquiring Andrew Wiggins, who continues to get buzz as a future Laker) will likely start to begin acceptance among the more nuanced fans.
“They need to get as many defenders with length that can knock down a shot as possible,” an Eastern Conference front office member told ESPN.
An unrestricted free agent who has been discussed internally, sources told ESPN, is Andrew Wiggins, but he has a player option with Miami he could exercise. Tobias Harris, Quentin Grimes and Dean Wade are other players who fit that profile.
Talk of Quentin Grimes being a fit is comical but so will the other narratives coming out of Los Angeles over the coming months should James depart. Depending on what happens this summer, James is either going to be celebrated in a return to the Lakers or more likely, disparaged ever so slightly in a divorce as he takes his talents on a farewell tour with another franchise (hello, Miami Heat?).
In reality, a NBA championship team is about having the talent and the talent willing to play and accept their roles.
When James won in Miami, Dwyane Wade accepted the Robin role and you could argue Chris Bosh did his best Cat Woman impression. In Cleveland, Kyrie was clearly Robin and when the Lakers won the bubble championship, Anthony Davis might have been the best player on the court, he still was directed by Batman James (LBJ doesn’t get nearly enough credit for being the leader of a championship team that honed the the best from “it’s okay to lose” Kyle Kuzma, kept late career Dwight Howard focused, and got fringe playoff minutes from a hungry Dion Waiters and all-but retired J.R. Smith).
For the current Lakers team: when sources tell ESPN that they would welcome him back, it’s omitted that they mean in the role they envision for the former 4-time MVP.
The Lakers are not wrong for prioritizing Doncic or decreasing James’ influence behind the scenes based on the level of star he currently is.
The truth is that James must be willing to accept all the changes on and off the court in Los Angeles if he wants to remain with the Lakers. It’s what is best for the Lakers franchise and although there is public uncertainty about LeBron’s future, based on NBA history (both written and unwritten), the decision about James’ future with the Lakers and what he’s willing to accept has likely already been made.
