Despite choosing to pick up his $52.6 million player option, there currently is no guarantee that LeBron James will be suiting up for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2025-26 season.
Him opting in was accompanied by a statement from his agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports that stated James’ desire to finish his career competing for championships. They were essentially putting pressure on the Lakers to put a championship-caliber roster together, or the 40-year-old could ask out to finish his career elsewhere.
Paul would eventually follow up and say that no trade talks have taken place between James and the Lakers, although that reportedly hasn’t stopped some teams from inquiring.
As LeBron usually does, he has been adding to the intrigue in recent days. He is currently back home in Ohio and was seen working out at the Cleveland Cavaliers practice facility on the morning of July 4:
NEW: @KingJames at #Cavs Practice Facility Today with Cavs Summer League Rookie @Denver_Jones2 #LeBronJames #NBA #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/VTxmTeUvfq
— The Ball Out (@theballoutmedia) July 4, 2025
However, James would later take to social media to downplay the significance of being at the Cavaliers facility:
And every summer since it was built. I live here still and train every summer. Got damn yall bored man! Go get a plate of food somewhere and enjoy the 4th of July!
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 4, 2025
If James were indeed to get traded, everyone has speculated that the Cavaliers make the most sense as a possible landing spot. That would give LeBron the opportunity to play for his hometown team one final time while competing for a championship in the much weaker Eastern Conference.
The only issue with that is the Cavaliers are currently a second apron team, which would make a trade very tough. Cleveland would have to unload enough salary to get under the second apron, trading key pieces like Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and DeAndre Hunter to do so.
It’s hard to imagine the Cavaliers choosing to gut their roster to bring on a soon-to-be 41-year-old in his 23rd season, even as great as James still is.
James could be angling for a buyout with the Lakers, which would allow him to sign with a team like Cleveland without gutting their roster. That wouldn’t help L.A. at all, however, so it’s hard to imagine that actually happening. The likeliest scenario here is that LeBron is still trying to apply pressure to the Lakers front office to improve the roster, which they have yet to really do this offseason outside of signing Deandre Ayton to play center.
As he said in his follow-up post, LeBron still spends time in Cleveland during his offseason so being at the practice facility doesn’t appear to be as significant as it was originally made out to be.
Lakers didn’t offer LeBron James new contract
According to recent reports, the Lakers did not offer LeBron James any extra years on his deal and are viewing him an an expiring contract heading into the 2025-26 season.
For the first time, the possibility of James finishing his career somewhere other than L.A. is real.
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