Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James made a decision on his contract on Sunday morning as reports indicate he will be picking up his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season.
That had been the expectation all along, although the reason why was unknown considering he could have negotiated a new one-year contract with a player option for 2026-27, giving himself more financial security.
It appears that James opted into his contract so that the possibility of a trade is still there, putting pressure on Rob Pelinka and the Lakers front office to make moves in the coming days to improve the roster. James’ agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports put out a cryptic statement essentially laying out that possibility, via Shams Charania of ESPN:
“LeBron wants to compete for a championship,” Paul told ESPN. “He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we’ve had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.
“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. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what’s best for him.”
Charania also confirmed in a report that LeBron is uncertain about the Lakers’ roster and waiting to see what moves they make before finalizing his future plans:
“I’m told he wants to compete for a championship next season, and he is uncertain about the Lakers roster moving forward… LeBron James clearly is of the mindset that he wants to compete for a championship, and he’s gonna be monitoring very closely, are the Lakers gonna make the moves that puts them in position to seriously compete in that vaunted Western Conference? And if now, where do those conversations go? That becomes a subplot of this offseason.”
If James does indeed ask for a trade, he has a no-trade clause and would be able to control his next destination. That would likely mean that the Lakers wouldn’t get much back in a potential deal, although whatever team would be acquiring LeBron would need to find a way to match his $52.6 million salary.
The likeliest scenario is Pelinka making moves in the coming days to convince James to stay, as he said he would do at the start of the offseason, but this situation is obviously worth monitoring moving forward.
LeBron James works out for first time since knee injury
Now that LeBron James will be playing a 23rd NBA season and potentially an eighth with the Lakers, his focus in on getting healthy for training camp. James suffered a sprained ACL in the Lakers’ final postseason game and appears to be making progress as he recently posted video of himself working out on the court for the first time since the injury.
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