LeBron James and his representatives are waiting for the Lakers to present an offer for next season, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on the latest edition of The Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link). James will be an unrestricted free agent and hasn’t committed to continuing his career, and he wants to hear the team’s plan before making his next move.
James has a $57.7MM cap hold, so the Lakers will need to resolve his financial situation before making their other offseason moves, Windhorst notes. He cautions that they might have to renounce LeBron’s free agent rights if the four-time MVP isn’t ready to make a decision on his future by the start of free agency, but the two sides could resume negotiations later in the summer after the team’s other business is resolved.
Windhorst addresses the possibility that James could move on to another team and notes that the Cavaliers and Warriors have frequently been rumored as potential destinations. His best outcome in that case is a sign-and-trade to earn a salary above the mid-level, but he needs the organization to work with him to make that happen. Windhorst adds that James’ options increase dramatically if he’s willing to play for the mid-level exception or the veteran’s minimum just to get to the team of his choice.
There’s more from Los Angeles:
- A reorganization plan resulted in the layoffs of more than a dozen Lakers employees on Wednesday, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. He notes that the team has continued to undergo changes since the purchase by Mark Walter was approved in October. Sources tell McMenamin that the layoffs affected marketing, team communications, team content and corporate partnerships.
- General manager Rob Pelinka recently said it’s “not the Lakers’ way” to go through losing seasons and rebuild through the draft like Oklahoma City and San Antonio did, so Melissa Rohlin of The California Post examines how the team can compete with those Western Conference powers. Her answer is to find better role players to mix with James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves so L.A. can match the depth of the Thunder or Spurs in future playoff meetings.
- In a subscriber-only piece, Mirjam Swanson of The Los Angeles Times explains that the 3-2-1 lottery reform proposal might benefit the Lakers, but she still sees it as a mistake for the league. Swanson believes the new system is overly complicated and doesn’t give legitimately bad teams a clear path toward improving.
Bron to the Cavs is the best storyline for his final season, it also gives the Cavs a clear pathway to an NBA Finals….. and Bron vs Bronny.
The West is an uphill battle, and the Lakers are not true contenders without investing in their frontcourt.
Knicks were incredibly healthy and this is their best shot at a championship. Celtics look like they are about to move Brown to get Giannis – who is one more calf injury away from a blown achillies. Pistons, Raptors, Magic, Hawks, Sixers all are flawed teams unlikely to top the East. Pacers still need to see Hal take the court.
Cavs > Lakers > GSW
Cavs have a long way to go to be real contenders. That was exposed last series. And they can’t pay him much – they were the most expensive team in the league, which means their path to sign and trades and the full MLE is improbable.
I think he will either return to the Lakers or he’ll be signed and traded to the Warriors for Jimmy Butler and a Warriors’ first rounder. The latter path gets him a 3-year $150M deal with only the first year fully guaranteed and assumes the Lakers aren’t willing to give him a respectable offer.
Lebron improves the Warriors the most out of any team he could go to, as CLE has Mobley and Allen, and GSW made the play-in last year. If GSW were able to get Lebron for cheap and spend the other cap money on say, Kawhi or KD, it would mean another KD+GSW style dominant run.
Weird you put Lakers over GSW, when Luka and Lebron and Reaves all play the same position and have the same profile/type. Lebron doesn’t fit on that team, neither does Reaves really.
Lebron to GSW for cheap would mean a chip.