Lakers Believed To Prefer To Let LeBron James Leave After 2025-26 Season

[RealGM Wiretap]

The Los Angeles Lakers' "widely preferred scenario" is to let the expiring contract of LeBron James come off their books after the 2025-26 season, reports Marc Stein. James, however, is expected to continue his career beyond the season and do with a team other than the Lakers. The Lakers pivoted their plans after they were able to acquire Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks

James, who turns 41 in December and was an All-NBA Second Team selection last season, is unlikely to be bought out or traded this season.

The Mavericks, Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks are three teams with potential interest in James. The Cleveland Cavaliers will also continue to be linked with James, though their level of interest in uniting with him for a third time is considered murky.

The Mavericks could offer James a high level of familiarity with Jason Kidd, Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving.

"It all really depends on how this coming season goes," said a source on James' options for next season.

Via Marc Stein/The Stein Line

[GaaBaaBoo]

The whole NBA is.

[Thechicagorilla]

The Knicks being interested in a player, water is wet, corvettes are fast, Jeff besos is a billionaire

[OogaBooga]

his nickname should either now be father time or P.E.DEEZ.

[Prestige]

The man is turning 41. He chose money and LA over chasing a ring. He could have opted out if that was his concern.

[pushfloater]

The man is turning 41. He chose money and LA over chasing a ring. He could have opted out if that was his concern.

Agreed.

[mastermixer]

The man is turning 41. He chose money and LA over chasing a ring. He could have opted out if that was his concern.

That’s why I don’t get he just stay on with the Lakers for a smaller contract. I get it. Even if you’re a billionaire, leaving $20 or $30 million on tht table is still throwing away a ton of money. But it’s honestly his best option.

I’m not one of these “why doesn’t he sign for minimum if he wants to win” guys, but it’s clear he chose LA for the lifestyle and family reasons first. He wants to live here, he did well here, why not just stay for 10 million or something.

If I thought he came to LA for basketball reasons I wouldn’t be saying this.

[Bk68]

What if he changed his number again. That might start a fire.
Good luck L.A. Could be a drama-season.

[Vegeta10176]

Lebron should just get a buy out at this point if lakers don't want him there

[Vegeta10176]

The man is turning 41. He chose money and LA over chasing a ring. He could have opted out if that was his concern.

That’s why I don’t get he just stay on with the Lakers for a smaller contract. I get it. Even if you’re a billionaire, leaving $20 or $30 million on tht table is still throwing away a ton of money. But it’s honestly his best option.

I’m not one of these “why doesn’t he sign for minimum if he wants to win” guys, but it’s clear he chose LA for the lifestyle and family reasons first. He wants to live here, he did well here, why not just stay for 10 million or something.

If I thought he came to LA for basketball reasons I wouldn’t be saying this.

You guys do not understand the cap if he took 20 to 30mil less it would of opened up exactly 0 cap space if he took the minimum it would open up 10mil tell me the game changing player available for 10mil that justifies lebron giving up 50million.. Also not for basketball reasons and still won a championship and at 41 finished 6th in mvp voting last season as he had the lakers in 3rd without AD and prior to the luka arrival how good is he well easily worth 50million good.

[pushfloater]

The man is turning 41. He chose money and LA over chasing a ring. He could have opted out if that was his concern.

That’s why I don’t get he just stay on with the Lakers for a smaller contract. I get it. Even if you’re a billionaire, leaving $20 or $30 million on tht table is still throwing away a ton of money. But it’s honestly his best option.

I’m not one of these “why doesn’t he sign for minimum if he wants to win” guys, but it’s clear he chose LA for the lifestyle and family reasons first. He wants to live here, he did well here, why not just stay for 10 million or something.

If I thought he came to LA for basketball reasons I wouldn’t be saying this.

You guys do not understand the cap if he took 20 to 30mil less it would of opened up exactly 0 cap space if he took the minimum it would open up 10mil tell me the game changing player available for 10mil that justifies lebron giving up 50million.. Also not for basketball reasons and still won a championship and at 41 finished 6th in mvp voting last season as he had the lakers in 3rd without AD and prior to the luka arrival how good is he well easily worth 50million good.

But he could have left the team altogether and went elsewhere at whatever price he thinks makes sense. Why take 50m then nag the team to improve? How?

[YourGM99]

The man is turning 41. He chose money and LA over chasing a ring. He could have opted out if that was his concern.

That’s why I don’t get he just stay on with the Lakers for a smaller contract. I get it. Even if you’re a billionaire, leaving $20 or $30 million on tht table is still throwing away a ton of money. But it’s honestly his best option.

I’m not one of these “why doesn’t he sign for minimum if he wants to win” guys, but it’s clear he chose LA for the lifestyle and family reasons first. He wants to live here, he did well here, why not just stay for 10 million or something.

If I thought he came to LA for basketball reasons I wouldn’t be saying this.

You guys do not understand the cap if he took 20 to 30mil less it would of opened up exactly 0 cap space if he took the minimum it would open up 10mil tell me the game changing player available for 10mil that justifies lebron giving up 50million.. Also not for basketball reasons and still won a championship and at 41 finished 6th in mvp voting last season as he had the lakers in 3rd without AD and prior to the luka arrival how good is he well easily worth 50million good.

They also don’t understand that if he leaves next year most of the project cap space will be going to Austin Reaves and Deandre Ayton. Reaves recently declined a max contract extension, in hopes of getting even more money after this season. So that’s projected to be $30M-$35M annually. This is the range Josh Giddy is currently seeking right now for comparison. Other players in this salary range include Quickley, Poole, and Suggs. Deandre Ayton will likely be seeking at least double his current $8M salary after this season. So that’s $15M-$20M annually. Clint Capela just signed for around $7M a year to be a 3rd string center in Houston. Other players on the higher end of this salary and even slightly more included Zubac, Aldama, Poelti, and Naz Reid. I don’t see Reaves or Ayton opting into the final season of their contracts unless they are injured or if they have a horrible season. If not, their projected increases will be around $35M combined annually. Also, you have to factor in Rui being a free agent after this season as well but they could probably resign him for around the same $18M annually salary. When the clippers decided not to resign Paul George it didn’t open up a ton of cap space because that money was used to resign their current players to higher salaries. I expect the lakers to be in the same situation after this season. I say all that to say the lakers won’t be replacing LeBron with equal talent in free agency once he leaves and I have a hard time seeing Austin Reaves being the center piece of a trade for another star to pair alongside Luka.

[mastermixer]

The man is turning 41. He chose money and LA over chasing a ring. He could have opted out if that was his concern.

That’s why I don’t get he just stay on with the Lakers for a smaller contract. I get it. Even if you’re a billionaire, leaving $20 or $30 million on tht table is still throwing away a ton of money. But it’s honestly his best option.

I’m not one of these “why doesn’t he sign for minimum if he wants to win” guys, but it’s clear he chose LA for the lifestyle and family reasons first. He wants to live here, he did well here, why not just stay for 10 million or something.

If I thought he came to LA for basketball reasons I wouldn’t be saying this.

You guys do not understand the cap if he took 20 to 30mil less it would of opened up exactly 0 cap space if he took the minimum it would open up 10mil tell me the game changing player available for 10mil that justifies lebron giving up 50million.. Also not for basketball reasons and still won a championship and at 41 finished 6th in mvp voting last season as he had the lakers in 3rd without AD and prior to the luka arrival how good is he well easily worth 50million good.

No. You’re right if that’s the case.

That’s why it’s really hard to build a championship team around an already established star that’s already making max or super max money.

You need those home-grown younger players that are making less than what the deserve before everyone wants thier pay day.

[cheese318]

The man is turning 41. He chose money and LA over chasing a ring. He could have opted out if that was his concern.

That’s why I don’t get he just stay on with the Lakers for a smaller contract. I get it. Even if you’re a billionaire, leaving $20 or $30 million on tht table is still throwing away a ton of money. But it’s honestly his best option.

I’m not one of these “why doesn’t he sign for minimum if he wants to win” guys, but it’s clear he chose LA for the lifestyle and family reasons first. He wants to live here, he did well here, why not just stay for 10 million or something.

If I thought he came to LA for basketball reasons I wouldn’t be saying this.

If he opts out of the deal and signs a below average deal like David West did years ago to sign with GSW, he would have never heard the end of it calling it ring chasing and all the Kobe stans & MJ stans would have just added more to their plate saying he has to go to a ready made team to win if it would have been his 4th team to win a chip. He could go to LAL right now and say buy me out and I’ll give you back $10M-$20M. He won’t be able to do this in season as most of the contending teams will not be able to sign him with the new rules because of his large contract so if he doesn’t leave now he’s gonna be a Laker all season.

[ball_takes23]

That’s why I don’t get he just stay on with the Lakers for a smaller contract. I get it. Even if you’re a billionaire, leaving $20 or $30 million on tht table is still throwing away a ton of money. But it’s honestly his best option.

I’m not one of these “why doesn’t he sign for minimum if he wants to win” guys, but it’s clear he chose LA for the lifestyle and family reasons first. He wants to live here, he did well here, why not just stay for 10 million or something.

If I thought he came to LA for basketball reasons I wouldn’t be saying this.

You guys do not understand the cap if he took 20 to 30mil less it would of opened up exactly 0 cap space if he took the minimum it would open up 10mil tell me the game changing player available for 10mil that justifies lebron giving up 50million.. Also not for basketball reasons and still won a championship and at 41 finished 6th in mvp voting last season as he had the lakers in 3rd without AD and prior to the luka arrival how good is he well easily worth 50million good.

They also don’t understand that if he leaves next year most of the project cap space will be going to Austin Reaves and Deandre Ayton. Reaves recently declined a max contract extension, in hopes of getting even more money after this season. So that’s projected to be $30M-$35M annually. This is the range Josh Giddy is currently seeking right now for comparison. Other players in this salary range include Quickley, Poole, and Suggs. Deandre Ayton will likely be seeking at least double his current $8M salary after this season. So that’s $15M-$20M annually. Clint Capela just signed for around $7M a year to be a 3rd string center in Houston. Other players on the higher end of this salary and even slightly more included Zubac, Aldama, Poelti, and Naz Reid. I don’t see Reaves or Ayton opting into the final season of their contracts unless they are injured or if they have a horrible season. If not, their projected increases will be around $35M combined annually. Also, you have to factor in Rui being a free agent after this season as well but they could probably resign him for around the same $18M annually salary. When the clippers decided not to resign Paul George it didn’t open up a ton of cap space because that money was used to resign their current players to higher salaries. I expect the lakers to be in the same situation after this season. I say all that to say the lakers won’t be replacing LeBron with equal talent in free agency once he leaves and I have a hard time seeing Austin Reaves being the center piece of a trade for another star to pair alongside Luka.

This is the same horrible logic the Suns used to make the Beal trade. “We’re already over the cap anyways, so trading for this horrific 5 year $250M contract isn’t going to hurt us” Well, turns out it did.

Going into the second apron is not something to be taken lightly. And clippers were able to sign Beal, Lopez and CP3 this summer because they passed on PG. there is no argument that they are not much, much better off right now than they would be if they had re-signed PG

[fuller4379]

Lebron should just get a buy out at this point if lakers don't want him there

Why should they buy him out? It makes no sense for them to give him $50 million to not play.

[MitchB3]

The man is turning 41. He chose money and LA over chasing a ring. He could have opted out if that was his concern.

That’s why I don’t get he just stay on with the Lakers for a smaller contract. I get it. Even if you’re a billionaire, leaving $20 or $30 million on tht table is still throwing away a ton of money. But it’s honestly his best option.

I’m not one of these “why doesn’t he sign for minimum if he wants to win” guys, but it’s clear he chose LA for the lifestyle and family reasons first. He wants to live here, he did well here, why not just stay for 10 million or something.

If I thought he came to LA for basketball reasons I wouldn’t be saying this.

I wouldn't say take the league minimum, but if it's an actual ring you want to win, then he could've opted out and allowed them to give him a reasonable amount so they can get players.

[deeps6x]

First of all, who cares? Other then Lakers fans. But since I fell for this click bait... my opinion.

The Mavs, Knicks, Cavs, would be good teams for the Lakers to deal LBJ to, however, the Lakers are probably saying they'd just let him expire because he's probably already told them he has no intention of waiving his no-trade clause at this time.

It will be entirely up to LBJ to choose the team he wants to be traded to, and make the deal himself. And any salary matching from any of the three teams above will work out to be a good deal for the Lakers. They'll get tradable or playable assets for LBJ, which is better then nothing for him if he expires. None of those teams have bad contracts, so anything coming back equivalent to his current salary is a WIN.

Now, it's up to the Lakers to make him uncomfortable enough to force his hand, and make him want to leave town before the trade deadline, and preferably this summer. So I fully expect the Lakers public focus will be entirely on Donic, with an endless stream of Donic, Donic, Donic, building for the future around Donic, stories, endlessly spewed from the team, until they get what they want from LBJ. Essentially attacking his massive ego. (telling players to go shower first etc, LOL). LBJ, I'm sure actually would like to stay in LA, but he and his people seem to have kind of started throwing matches at that bridge. It isn't completely burnt down, but it's definitely on fire.

One more question, since I didn't really watch the Lakers much this past season, was he really the sixth best player in the league, as he was voted 6th in the MVP race, or did he gets those votes mostly from his reputation, rather then his 40 year old production?

[ReddOktober]

The man is turning 41. He chose money and LA over chasing a ring. He could have opted out if that was his concern.

That’s why I don’t get he just stay on with the Lakers for a smaller contract. I get it. Even if you’re a billionaire, leaving $20 or $30 million on tht table is still throwing away a ton of money. But it’s honestly his best option.

I’m not one of these “why doesn’t he sign for minimum if he wants to win” guys, but it’s clear he chose LA for the lifestyle and family reasons first. He wants to live here, he did well here, why not just stay for 10 million or something.

If I thought he came to LA for basketball reasons I wouldn’t be saying this.

I wouldn't say take the league minimum, but if it's an actual ring you want to win, then he could've opted out and allowed them to give him a reasonable amount so they can get players.

Stop saying if he wants a ring then take less money. it’s still a job at the end of the day and popularity wise he’s the biggest star in the league. plus he’s not a ringless cp3. he already has 4 rings. he brought cleveland their first ring. at 41 he has nothing to prove or chase except the bag and a good situation for him and his family. he deserves the max until he retires.

[druggas]

That’s why I don’t get he just stay on with the Lakers for a smaller contract. I get it. Even if you’re a billionaire, leaving $20 or $30 million on tht table is still throwing away a ton of money. But it’s honestly his best option.

I’m not one of these “why doesn’t he sign for minimum if he wants to win” guys, but it’s clear he chose LA for the lifestyle and family reasons first. He wants to live here, he did well here, why not just stay for 10 million or something.

If I thought he came to LA for basketball reasons I wouldn’t be saying this.

I wouldn't say take the league minimum, but if it's an actual ring you want to win, then he could've opted out and allowed them to give him a reasonable amount so they can get players.

Stop saying if he wants a ring then take less money. it’s still a job at the end of the day and popularity wise he’s the biggest star in the league. plus he’s not a ringless cp3. he already has 4 rings. he brought cleveland their first ring. at 41 he has nothing to prove or chase except the bag and a good situation for him and his family. he deserves the max until he retires.

He's old, washed, and he will never be beloved like the other Lakers. Leave already.