LeBron James and his agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports dropped a bit of a bomb on the Los Angeles Lakers when they announced that he would be picking up his player option for the 2025-26 season.
With that announcement came a statement, however, which said that James is hoping to compete for a championship this season and is keeping his options open, whether that be playing for the Lakers or elsewhere.
Many took that as LeBron and Paul applying pressure to the Lakers front office to make roster upgrades in the coming days and if they don’t, the 40-year-old will ask for a trade to finish his career elsewhere. James has a full no-trade clause and would be able to steer himself to the destination of his choice if that team were interested.
According to Bobby Marks of ESPN though, finding a trade partner for LeBron may not be that easy:
“To be sensitive to LeBron, who is considered one of the greatest of all time, there isn’t (a trade market) and here’s why. He’s making $53 million, he’s in the last year of his contract, he’s 40 years old and I talked to numerous teams yesterday and asked that same question, would you give up basically the farm, you’d have to give up four or five players to go get LeBron James for one year. And the unanimous answer was no, they wouldn’t. Now, the stakes change a lot if LeBron James ever became a free agent and did some type of buyout with Los Angeles. There, you would have 29 teams lined up for him. But from a trade perspective, and here’s a hypothetical, his former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers who are in the second apron and have spent a lot of money, they would basically have to trade about six players just to go out and get him for one year. As one team told me, that’s not smart business.”
What Marks is saying is understandable as James is now under contract at $52.6 million for the 2025-26 season. Finding a way to match that salary without gutting your roster wouldn’t be easy for a team, although there are some that can get there with just two or three players being sent out.
But if it ever got to the point where LeBron did indeed ask out, it’s hard to imagine there wouldn’t be a team interested. Even at James’ age, he is coming off another All-NBA season in which he finished sixth in MVP voting and remains arguably the most marketable player in the league.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors all seem like places LeBron would be open to finishing his career, but it remains to be seen how interested those teams would be.
Because James has a no-trade clause though, the Lakers wouldn’t get much for him in return as far as assets go. They typically do right by superstars, but L.A. would obviously want something of substance back if they were to trade James, whether it be useful players or draft picks to flip down the road.
LeBron James’ wife wants him to retire?
A video recently came out of LeBron James saying his wife Savannah is hoping he retires after the 2025-26 season, which adds another wrinkle to his current situation with the Lakers.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
