As Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka met with the media to announce Luka Doncic‘s new three-year max extension on Saturday, the subject of LeBron James‘ future with the team also came up, writes Dan Woike of The Athletic.
Now that Doncic is the cornerstone of the organization, there are questions about how much longer James will remain in L.A. He has an expiring $52.6MM contract after picking up his player option in late June, and there has been speculation that he might either be traded or reach a buyout agreement before the end of the season.
Pelinka told reporters today that it would be “great” if James were able to retire as a Laker.
“In terms of LeBron’s career, I think the number one thing we have to do there is respect he and his family’s decision in terms of how long he’s going to play. I think that’s first and foremost,” Pelinka said. “And we want to respect his ability to come up with his timetable on that.”
James will turn 41 in December, and he hasn’t made any public statements about many more years he plans to remain active. He’s still performing at an elite level, earning second-team All-NBA honors last season while averaging 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists in 70 games.
James’ agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, said during a Summer League interview that James hasn’t asked the Lakers for a trade. Team and league sources confirmed that to Woike, adding that there has been no discussion of a buyout either.
“All the interactions we’ve had with LeBron and his camp, Rich in particular, have been positive and supportive. So very professional and Rich has been great,” Pelinka said. “The dialogue with him has been open and constant.”
It has also been reported that the Lakers didn’t offer James a long-term contract, which is something that Paul said he never asked the team for. Numerous reports have indicated that L.A. is preserving cap space for the summer of 2027, and Woike notes that among this summer’s major signings, Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart both got one-year deals with player options, while Jake LaRavia was given two seasons.
If LeBron wants to retire a lakers, he will. It’s all up to him
Bron, Bronny, JJ and Rob could all be gone soon. Fresh start from the new owners and taking the team back.
This is the last year LeBron is playing for the Lakers unless he is willing to get paid like $25 million for the 26-27 season.
Lakers don’t have Bird rights for Ayton or Smart. Ayton’s vLue if he plays well will be $20M plus, and Smart’s $10M plus. The only way the Lakers can retain them is with cap space.
Ideally, LeBron wants to get paid and Lakers do a sign and trade and get some assets back for LeBron next offseason.
he will be traded or cut same with his son as where daddy goes down goes we saw that when they drafted his son
Actually just looked at the numbers and they CAN sign LeBron to max contract, and sign Austin to new contract (his cap hold will be $22M), sign Ayron and Marcus to new contracts (their cap hold will be $10 and $6M) if they trade out Vando first. But this way they cannot resign Rui or add any new players above the non-tax max at the most
I doubt if LeBron wants to play another year the Lakers will not sign him. It’s a bad look for them, and not good PR. They may force LeBron wanting to go elsewhere by offering him less though, but they won’t outright say no.