LeBron James made his decision and he puts the Lakers in notice in the process.
James exercises his option as a player of $ 52.6 million with the Lakers for the NBA 2025-26 season, his agent, Rich Paul, Tell at ESPN Shams Charania Sunday. But that comes the expectation that the team, which was recently sold a record contract of $ 10 billion, will set up a list that can compete for a championship while planning the future around Luka Doncic.
Paul published a statement to Charania which refers to a potential thrust for a trade if James does not like what he sees of the director general Rob Pelinka this offseason.
“LeBron wants to compete for a championship,” Paul told Espn. “He knows that Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he appreciates a realistic chance to win everything. We are very grateful to the partnership that we have had for eight years with Jeanie (BUSS) and Rob and Considest The Lakers as an essential element of her career for eight years.
“We understand the difficulty of winning now while preparing for the future. We want to assess what is best for LeBron at this stage of his life and his career. He wants to make every season he has left into account, and the Lakers understand this, are favorable and want what is best for him. ”
Lakers’ options for upgrading their list are limited because they are trying to win an over 40 -year -old James, whose future of the game is a constant question given its age, although it continues to occur at a high level.
Espn Saturday Saturday That James does not enter next season, his 23rd in the League, with the idea that it will be his last.
During a live recording of “The Shop” last weekend at Fanatics Fest, James was shy when he retiredIndicating only the evidence: “I can’t play too.”
He joked by saying that Victor Wembanyama, statistics of 3 -inch 3 -inch spurs, who was on stage with James, could force him to get out of the league.
“The more I play more and more,” said James, “as long as (Wembanyama) continues to hit my shots in the stands, it will make me retire.”
James collected an average of 24.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds during the regular season of 2024-25.
The Lakers, after having acquired Luka Daceic of the Mavericks for Anthony Davis in a seismic mid-season, obtained the seeded n ° 3 at the Western Conference at 50-32 but lost against the Timberwolves 4-1 in the first round of the NBA qualifiers.
James suffered an MCL sprain in the last match in the series.
He has just returned to field activities after working with his son, Bonny, that the Lakers chose n ° 55 in total in the draft of last year.
Bronny made 27 appearances of the NBA as a recruit, with an average of 2.7 points, while spending time in League G.
Dononic and James did not click quickly as a teammates, but they will have another chance of progressing this season while James continues his quest for his fifth championship while Dononic seeks his first.
The Lakers will obviously claim to build around Donic to move forward, but as long as James is still in the photo, they will seek to make additional movements during the offseason to make their way to immediately compete for the NBA final.
