[WINDHORST]: Lakers May Need To Trade For LeBron This Summer

[Klayforspicy]

All they had to do was get DeMar …

I strongly believe the pandemic salvaged that AD experiment, if not for the bubble they would have gotten nothing imo

[Slim Charless]

Think it's way more likely they trade AD. With Lavine also being a Klutch client and AD being from Chicago that makes some sense. Especially if the Bulls don't really wanna pay Zach a supermax.

Sign and trade Lavine with Patrick Williams for AD....?

Why would the Bulls give up all that for Day to Davis? I don't think he has near as much trade value as you seem to think, between playing like crap since the championship and his injury struggles teams are not going to give up that much for him.

His numbers when healthy at the beginning of the season were equal if not better than his career numbers..... not sure what you see. His availability is major though.

[Hsker4Life]

How dare the Lakers give LeBron the roster that LeBron assembled.

[heatwillbeback]

They have practically no picks. Nothing but bloated contracts. Trades are nearly impossible with the cap and pick situation.

LeBron builds teams but the necessity for more all the time also destroys teams futures.

[mademan]

I don’t think he cares but yea running back to Cleveland would be bad optics. Basically a rinse & repeat cycle of what he’s been doing: going back and forth from CLE to different cities once better opportunities arise to win championships.

I think getting traded to Cleveland would be a bad look (especially since the Cavs wont give their top 3 and only have Love and picks to trade). Going there at the age of 38 or 39 for the MLE would be fine tho, imo.

[Lalouie]

There is one sure fire way to piss off LeBron and that is hanging onto draft assets and not using them to improve this years team.

Its also why the Cavs were left with nothing the first time he left, its why he left Cleveland the 2nd time because they refused to trade away the 8th pick (Sexton) and now the Lakers are learning.

good! he's out!

lakers got the ring they wanted. lebron used the lakers and the lakers used lebron. the tradeoff is the Lakers are now in the toilet and I'm guessing they think that makes it even steven now.

also once lebron said he wanted to play with bronny, that was never happening with the Lakers. that sealed the deal.

this hopefully ends the talk of hanging of lebron's number

[mademan]

But ya, games over for the Lakers. I actually do think there are trades to make this summer that can increase their title chances considerably (WB+2027/2029 for Hield/Brogdon works), but im not sure if theyre willing to trade picks that far out anymore.

Gonna be an interesting summer. Lebron isnt gonna want to stay on a team thats not continuously going all in and the Lakers have legit reasons to not believe in the Lebron/AD core anymore (age and injuries).

[R-DAWG]

There is one sure fire way to piss off LeBron and that is hanging onto draft assets and not using them to improve this years team.

Its also why the Cavs were left with nothing the first time he left, its why he left Cleveland the 2nd time because they refused to trade away the 8th pick (Sexton) and now the Lakers are learning.

He left Miami after they didn't use the mid level exception heading into the 2013-2014 season while using the amnesty on Mike Miller vs flipping his expiring for a rotation piece.

He left Cleveland after they held onto the lotto pick they got for Kyrie Irving vs trading it for a win now piece.

But in both situations, Lebron had 1 year left on his contract and refused to give the team trading for him any long term security that he was staying.

[sisibilio]

All because Schroeder needed to feed his family

[jc23]

So sad for him.
But no Thank you on cavs trading any of our core for LBJ.

correct me if im wrong but his last year in cleveland (the 2nd time around) wasnt lebron pushing for trades? i believe that was the case and clevaland like the lakers did not want to lose any future picks. Which is one reason the cavs rebuild has gone so well.

I have a feeling the lakers know lebron is gone after his contract and with AD being so unreliable they do not want to be without "any" future.

[HoopsterJones]

Think it's way more likely they trade AD. With Lavine also being a Klutch client and AD being from Chicago that makes some sense. Especially if the Bulls don't really wanna pay Zach a supermax.

Sign and trade Lavine with Patrick Williams for AD....?

[queridiculo]

Lebron went to LA to make movies, he isn't leaving.

It's 2022, not 1922.

Lebron James doesn't need to be in LA to produce movies.

[JHFVF07]

I would be fine trading Lebron for some young (cheap) talent and picks. Let Westbrook expire, and we will be players in 2023 FAs, with AD under contract. Good enough for me.

[jc23]

They have practically no picks. Nothing but bloated contracts. Trades are nearly impossible with the cap and pick situation.

LeBron builds teams but the necessity for more all the time also destroys teams futures.

but the picks they do have are very valuable because history shows that once lebron leaves a team that team is going to suck for awhile.

[R-DAWG]

What exactly did he want the Lakers to do? They have like ZERO tradeable assetts. Lebron put them in this situation, now he's crying about wanting them to fix his mess - which is next to impossible to do. I don't think there is a bigger diva in all of sports than Lebron. He cries and threatens to get what he wants, then he cries and threatens (or just leaves) when he doesn't like what he wanted in the first place.
It worked at first for him, but the older he gets, the worse his decisions are becoming, and the worse the mess he makes around him. If the Lakers were Smart, they would trade him now while his value is still high, and try to rebuild a team without having to worry about pleasing his highness.

I disagree that the Lakers have 0 tradable assets. Anthony Davis is a tradable asset. They can include 2 unprotected future 1sts and 3 unprotected future swaps in a trade. And rumor has it that Toronto offered their first rd pick for THT. Combine that with Russell Westbrook's expiring deal and there are paths for the Lakers.

Do you trade Davis for picks/young players, then use a few of those assets to move Westbrook into cap space, and become a cap space team in free agency?

What can you get by attaching draft capital to Westbrook? Maybe a package from Houston built around Eric Gordon and Christan Wood?

A better question is are the Lakers prepared to sacrifice their future for a few more years with Lebron?

[XTC]

There is one sure fire way to piss off LeBron and that is hanging onto draft assets and not using them to improve this years team.

Its also why the Cavs were left with nothing the first time he left, its why he left Cleveland the 2nd time because they refused to trade away the 8th pick (Sexton) and now the Lakers are learning.

Cavs where all in when Lebron was there the first time around, which they should have been considering you have a young superstar.

Let's not change the narrative that they where left in a mess when he left. They had pieces in which they flipped. Mo Williams was traded for The Clippers first round pick which became KYRIE IRVING (Tristan Thompson was taken with their own first rounder). Its not Lebrons fault they fumbled all their picks until they got Wiggins in 2014 (which was flipped for Kevin Love), which led to their first championship in 2016.

Cavs are in a great spot right now. They just gotta wait for Lebron to become a FA, and they become favourites for a championship. Lebron is at a stage where he doesn't want to do the heavy lifting anymore. Lebron did say Lakers where AD's team, it's not Lebrons fault AD has struggled with that role.

[KazuoOda]

So sad for him.
But no Thank you on cavs trading any of our core for LBJ.

correct me if im wrong but his last year in cleveland (the 2nd time around) wasnt lebron pushing for trades? i believe that was the case and clevaland like the lakers did not want to lose any future picks. Which is one reason the cavs rebuild has gone so well.

I have a feeling the lakers know lebron is gone after his contract and with AD being so unreliable they do not want to be without "any" future.

That is correct. The cavs didnt want to trade any draft capital because lebron kept signing 1+1 deals every year.
They had no reason to trade their future for a player that wasnt committing to them long term.

[Lalouie]

But ya, games over for the Lakers. I actually do think there are trades to make this summer that can increase their title chances considerably (WB+2027/2029 for Hield/Brogdon works), but im not sure if theyre willing to trade picks that far out anymore.

Gonna be an interesting summer. Lebron isnt gonna want to stay on a team thats not continuously going all in and the Lakers have legit reasons to not believe in the Lebron/AD core anymore (age and injuries).

no team is going to go all in for lebron at his age and his declaration of wanting to pay with bronny. frankly i think lebron's stock will be tanking because of it. and by saying he wants to play with bronny, lebron has put himself in the most vulnerable position in his career

i think he will be BEGGING teams to draft bronny so they can play together. playing with bronny will be the biggest accomplishment OF HIS WHOLE CAREER. i think he'd even trade in a ring or two to do it

[LivingLegend]

There is one sure fire way to piss off LeBron and that is hanging onto draft assets and not using them to improve this years team.

Its also why the Cavs were left with nothing the first time he left, its why he left Cleveland the 2nd time because they refused to trade away the 8th pick (Sexton) and now the Lakers are learning.

He left Miami after they didn't use the mid level exception heading into the 2013-2014 season while using the amnesty on Mike Miller vs flipping his expiring for a rotation piece.

He left Cleveland after they held onto the lotto pick they got for Kyrie Irving vs trading it for a win now piece.

But in both situations, Lebron had 1 year left on his contract and refused to give the team trading for him any long term security that he was staying.

Yuuup. Hes been that way since his 1st stint in Cleveland where they couldnt get talent around him to save their lives. After that 7 year stint he has put pressure on the FO every year of his career to improve the team or else hes gone.

[Johnny Bball]

Called it yesterday when he said he wouldn't rule out Cleveland. I'll say it again, it's his last contract year next season (option after) and we have seen him do this over and over and over. He's burnt through the teams prospects and future, and now its time to move on to do it again, so might as well trade him. All this after he screwed the team over demanding Westbrook.