Buy or Sell LeBron James Actually Wanting a Trade from Los Angeles Lakers

 

Big (and unexpected) NBA news hit the internet on Sunday, when ESPN’s Shams Charania reported LeBron James will opt into the final year of his contract.

But that wasn’t the most notable part of the report.

LeBron’s agent, Rich Paul, really got the party started with his immediate follow-up:

Could LeBron really be considering a trade from the league’s most famous and glamorous franchise (where his son plays)?

Could the Los Angeles Lakers be thinking about adding players closer to Luka Dončić’s age for a timeline realignment?

Bleacher Report’s NBA staff broke down the possibilities below, giving each angle the "Buy or Sell?" treatment.

Is This Just a Leverage Play?

From L.A.'s perspective, you can argue trading LeBron.

LeBron and Luka present role and positional overlap. Trading LeBron could bring multiple helpful players back to play with Luka. Also, team-building will be trickier when you have two players making over $45 million next season.

From LeBron's perspective, it might make sense, too. Perhaps the team is already signaling its desire to be more Dončić-centric. Maybe LeBron has his eyes on another Cleveland homecoming. Or, maybe there’s some other contender he thinks is closer than L.A.

LeBron has shown before he’s fine leaving a team when another gives him a better shot at a title.

Over the years, though, James also subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) put pressure on his team’s front office to make win-now moves or otherwise align the organization with his personal goals.

In this case, maybe that means trading for a helpful veteran with remaining draft capital. Maybe it means prioritizing a floor-spacer (always a big deal in LeBron offenses) over the addition of a big (always important in Luka offenses).

Whatever the case, this feels more like a leverage play than the precursor to a real trade (though the latter seems likelier than ever before).

Are Lakers, LeBron at a Crossroads?

LeBron has every reason to stick with the Lakers. Bronny James, his son, also wears purple and gold. He has said he wants to retire as a Laker.

Still, exercising his player option rather than locking up additional security is telltale.

Becoming a free agent would have put more pressure on the Lakers. This seems like a response to contract talks.

Maybe the Lakers wanted LeBron to take less, or for him to concede his no-trade clause if he entered free agency.

Perhaps they too frequently used the words “rebuild” and “future” during his regular season exit interview, prompting those most recent comments from Rich Paul.

Whatever happened, it feels like the Lakers made it clear that they and LeBron were at some sort of crossroads. And now, LeBron is responding by attempting to wield power over where he goes next.

That’s the only reason it makes sense for him to opt in and for Paul to go public with his “Thanks for the memories” style sentiments.

Any team that actually interests LeBron would not have the cap space to sign him outright. And if he wanted to stay with the Lakers, why opt in for one year over signing a multi-season agreement?

Lakers Orbiting Around Luka?

James is no stranger to the leverage game—he just hasn’t played it in a while.

James has, to this point, practiced far more patience in Hollywood than he had in Cleveland, where he continually reminded the front office he could leave at any time by signing a string of one-plus-one contracts.

Things have so far been different in L.A., but James’ patience might be wearing thin. Swapping out Anthony Davis for Luka Dončić made sense for the Lakers, but it left James with a worse-fitting star who seemingly snagged the top spot on the franchise pecking order upon arrival.

The Lakers, by all appearances, are orbiting around Dončić now. They’ll weigh any roster moves first and foremost around their potential impact on him, since the 26-year-old has a much wider window than the 40-year-old James.

That’s what this cage-rattling is all about. It’s an attempt by James to keep that focus on the present as much as possible. It’s a plea for the organization to cash in all the trade chips it has to fill the void at center, address the defensive needs of this perimeter group and fix enough flaws to give this group a realistic shot at next season’s title.

It’s not, however, a sign of James suddenly wanting out. He has family and business ties to L.A., plus a clear affinity for the franchise.

And, oh yeah, his son, Bronny James, literally plays for the Lakers.

James doesn’t want to leave; he just wants the organization to push for immediate success.