Will this be LBJ’s farewell season?

[stan francisco]

Will he announce that this is his last season before the season starts, or will he continue playing in 2026-27?

[Beethoven]

Hope he continues for a couple more seasons at least. I mean, the guy was All-NBA last season.

[Vae Victus]

The better question is, if Lebron has a near elite season, do you re-sign him to 1 more big money season, or just let him walk if he refuses to take a paycut. Gotta find Luka's perfect running mate sooner rather than later.

[Danny Darko]

You can't keep paying that dough to him unless this year ends up with a chip... so I do think he plays one more year and it won't be with us unless we have a path to a 2nd straight chip and keeping the cast that did it. I would predict he plays one more season for someone else chasing a ring ( would not even diss him for that) and I'll be highly uninterested in his journey. I'm more interested in Bronny's at this point.

[DanishLakerFan]

He was an all-star and an all-nba 2nd team last season and i think he's likely to play as long as he can keep up current level of play.

[Kilroy]

He’ll keep playing but not for the lakers…. They’re doing everything but drive him to the airport right now with all the leaks about their plans for him leaving etc…. I think he’ll demand a trade after the season starts and get moved before the deadline…
He’ll actually play until he can own the team in Vegas

[dAdo dA dEvil]

I think he will try and chase another ring in Dallas next season.

[Mamba Mentality]

This better be his last season with the Lakers, that's all I care about.

[danfantastk32]

This better be his last season with the Lakers, that's all I care about.

Agree. Unless we can get something for him in a trade, I could give a flying....what he does, just do it somewhere else.

[stan francisco]

I think he’ll announce before the season starts that this is his last year. Should we win it all, he might come back on the cheap for another ring.

I’d be shocked if he moves away from LA. Too much business in LA for him to move, and I really doubt he’ll want to retire as a Clipper (see Shaq’s Celtics season).

His son plays for us. I expect him to retire as a Laker.

[LakerPhan]

Whenever he retires, he needs to state it at the beginning of the season, so fans across the Us can pay hommage...!

[Beethoven]

He'll play like, three more seasons.

[xinxin]

I think he’ll base his decision on how his body holds up.

A 40yr old major sports pro is no joke.

Whether it’s this season or the next , he’ll probably make an announcement before the all star game so he can celebrate his retirement tour


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[wco81]

This better be his last season with the Lakers, that's all I care about.

Agree. Unless we can get something for him in a trade, I could give a flying....what he does, just do it somewhere else.

If he has another 24/8/8 All-NBA season, it's going to be hard to replace that next summer.

Plus the Lakers have to decide whether to give Reeves a big extension. If not, that's about 40-45 PPG which goes away? Luka could increase his scoring but he averaged 28.2 last season and his best season was 33.9, so almost 6 points more.

Without LBJ's $50-55 million salary, they could get a couple of good starter-level players.

Or hope a superstar like Giannis becomes available, though it would take a lot of assets to acquire him.

[Vae Victus]

This better be his last season with the Lakers, that's all I care about.

Agree. Unless we can get something for him in a trade, I could give a flying....what he does, just do it somewhere else.

If he has another 24/8/8 All-NBA season, it's going to be hard to replace that next summer.

Plus the Lakers have to decide whether to give Reeves a big extension. If not, that's about 40-45 PPG which goes away? Luka could increase his scoring but he averaged 28.2 last season and his best season was 33.9, so almost 6 points more.

Without LBJ's $50-55 million salary, they could get a couple of good starter-level players.

Or hope a superstar like Giannis becomes available, though it would take a lot of assets to acquire him.

At this point, if Lebron wants to stack some chips, he needs to take a significant paycut. Lakers ideally would love to do a sign and trade Reaves + Vando + all the picks for an elite player who perfectly complements Luka. Spend some money to re-up Ayton/Rui on reasonable deals, then give Lebron the NTMLE. If Lebron is willing to swallow his ego in regards to pay, he's got a legit shot to win 2-3 more chips while he's still elite (so the chips won wont be devalued), by helping faciliate the team adding another elite player via trade. Luke + Lebron + Elite player + 1/2 solid roleplayers could be killing the league for awhile. This is where Luka getting underpaid helps SO MUCH, hes essentially locked into a 30% max, which gives the team room to sign/trade for another true max player, and enough room to pay 2 solid role players. Lebron gets the biggest exception and then the team fills out with developing youngsters and ring chaser/value pumper types.

[wco81]

That would be great for the Lakers if he took a deep payout but still keeps putting up All-NBA seasons.

But it would be unprecedented, to get that kind of discount despite elite production.

I don't recall what MJ was getting paid with the Wizards at the end of his career. But he didn't put up great numbers, 22.9 and 20.0 PPG when he was age 38-40, well below career average of 30.1 PPG and much lower efficiency.

He doesn't appear to have taken a bench role, as he averaged 35 and 37 MPG in those two seasons, not much less than his career 38.3 MPG>

Maybe Lebron could play 25-28 MPG and come off the bench for much lower salary? But it's doubtful that he'd go for it, especially if he's playing at an All-Star or better level.

I recalled that Duncan gave a home town discount his last couple of seasons. But 5 of his last 6 seasons, he was under 30 MPG and his production steadily declined, less usage.

Otherwise these HoF players, if they're still playing a lot of minutes and putting up good or great numbers, may be unwilling to give up money.

[MAMBAEMD]

It all depends on how the year goes for him individually ( injuries etc...) and for the team.

If they are playing great and are top 4 in the West before the trade deadline, why would he ask for a trade? He'd stay and play out the year. And maybe next.

If he gets a bad injury, he'll likely retire after the year

If they stink from the beginning and are out of playoffs contention by the deadline, then he may ask for a trade.

The class thing for him to do is play lights out this year and retire as a Laker.