“Yeah, usually when a star player like LeBron opts into his contract, the team announces the move. I find this very strange. Something is definitely going on behind the scenes.” One NBA executive told Hoops Wire, there is more to the LeBron James-Lakers situation than meets the eye. Despite opting into his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season, there has been no announcement from the Lakers’ front office. A silence on that front is concerning; are they moving on from the 40-year-old superstar?
In fact, ESPN’s previous report from Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst already hinted at that. Shelburne previously accurately reported Jeanie Buss’s role as governor of the team, after the 10 Billion sale. Now, the update from ESPN stated, “As the party exited out the front door, the franchise unofficially made that message public: It is ready to usher in the Luka Doncic era in Los Angeles, even if that means sunsetting the LeBron James one.” The arrival of Doncic in February meant he would be the superstar after James, but nobody expected it to be this soon.
But moving on from King James is not easy, and he could stay this year with the team, and Lakers reporter Jovan Buha explained why. “I think maybe around the trade deadline, you know, depending on how things go. It’s just it’s like I don’t see him taking a buyout because if he wanted to take a buyout, he should have just opted out and then signed some type of free agency deal.” He continued, “Lakers are not going to be like, ‘All right, we’ll eat the, you know, 50 of the 53 million and you go sign a minimum contract in Cleveland or Dallas or whatever.’”
That heavy price tag is the reason why other teams like Cleveland, Dallas, and the Warriors can’t on it without losing something major in return. For Cavs, Buha stated it would be “second apron situation“. For the Mavs, they would have to clear out “multiple role players” and lose depth in their squad. Even the Stephen Curry-LeBron James reunion is not a direct possibility. “Are they giving up like Jimmy? Like even that, I don’t think technically works under the CBA.”
This is a developing story…
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