LAS VEGAS — It was always this simple: LeBron James has a no-trade clause, meaning he has control over if and where he might be moved, and he has never asked for a trade. The Lakers might be planning for a few years out, thinking about how to build their roster around Luka Doncic, but this season, they plan to win with both of their superstars in the lineup.
That never stopped the speculation around the league, but both the Lakers and LeBron expect he will be in Lakers training camp when it opens in September, something Dan Woike and Joe Varden reported at The Athletic.
Amid the constant speculation recently about his future, both the Lakers and people close to the NBA’s all-time leading scorer expect that he will be with the organization for training camp once the season begins this fall, league sources told The Athletic.
Those same sources said the Lakers have received no indication from James or his representatives that he would request a trade or ask to be bought out of the final year of his contract, which will be his eighth season with the Lakers, the longest consecutive stretch spent with one organization in his career.
The report goes on to say there have been no buyout talks between LeBron and the Lakers.
LeBron’s future has been the buzzy topic at Summer League. People often point to the statement from LeBron’s agent, Rich Paul, when LeBron picked up his $52.6 million player option for this season: “We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career.” While that sounds ominous, considering LeBron’s long history of he or people around him making passive-aggressive offseason comments to get a team to spend big, it felt more like something from his playbook. Plus, LeBron picked up his player option and is not the kind of person who has given money back in his career (nor should he), but trading that massive salary makes any trade that much more complex. For example, the Cavaliers can’t trade for him because they are over the second apron of the luxury tax (it would have to be a one-for-one swap, and the Cavs don’t have anyone making LeBron-level money). A trade to a team like the Knicks would gut that roster of the depth that would have been a draw to LeBron in the first place.
The most likely scenario has always been that LeBron would play out this season with the Lakers, trying to win with Doncic, Austin Reaves and new center Deandre Ayton. This is a team whose top-end talent has proven itself in the offseason, and they could be a threat.
Next summer, when LeBron is a free agent, is when things really get interesting.
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