LAS VEGAS — LeBron James shook hands with Rob Pelinka, joked with JJ Redick, talked golf with Austin Reaves and posed for pictures with his team’s newest players, Jake LaRavia and Deandre Ayton. At the Thomas & Mack Center on Monday night, James did everything you would expect a member of the Los Angeles Lakers to do.
In the sections filled with employees from other teams, scouts and executives around the NBA buzzed with speculation about where else James might play, tossing around trade and buyout scenarios that, league and team sources told The Athletic, have never been discussed between James and the Lakers.
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.
When James’ agent Rich Paul, CEO of Klutch Sports, said last month that “LeBron knows the Lakers are building for the future, and he also wants to compete for championships. 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,” it set off a tornado of speculation that James might try to leave Los Angeles, even though he had just picked up his $52.6 million contract option to stay.
Those same league and team sources pointed out that Paul has made similar comments in the past, when James was playing for either the Cleveland Cavaliers or Lakers, when it was time to renegotiate a contract. The difference in this case: James had a deadline of June 29 to pick up his option or decline it and become a free agent, and there was only one team — the rebuilding Brooklyn Nets — with the cap space to even approach James’ salary.
A second difference: For the first time in his career, James is not the focal point of the team. That role belongs to Luka Dončić, whom the Lakers acquired in one of the most shocking trades in NBA history last season. In fact, the Dončić trade perhaps gave some oxygen to the latest round of LeBron rumors, because if a player like Luka — who is only 26 and is one of the best players in the NBA — can be traded, then anything could happen.
James and Dončić share the court in February. (Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
But the realities of NBA salary cap rules, the state of the Lakers’ roster and the state of James’ career are roadblocks to his Lakers tenure ending with a surprising exit, should James even decide he wants that.
As an example, one of the teams regularly linked to James as a possible destination in a hypothetical departure from Los Angeles is his former franchise in Cleveland. Except, because the Cavs have one of the highest payrolls in the league and are over the dreaded second apron, they are barred from trading for James right now because they do not have any players making $52.6 million. Teams over the second apron may not aggregate salaries in trades.
If James had wanted to rejoin Cleveland, which posted the best record in the Eastern Conference last season and has a deep roster, the easiest way would have been to decline his player option and sign with the Cavs for a fraction of what he makes now. And if the Cavaliers wanted to deal for James, they would first need to get under the second apron by sacrificing players and assets and then would need to sacrifice key pieces in their rotation to match James’ salary.
If the Lakers were to buy him out of his contract before the start of training camp, he would be free to sign with the Cavs. But if the Lakers were to buy him out during the regular season, he would be barred from signing with Cleveland because of restrictions on teams above the second apron.
Again, team and league sources said no discussions about a buyout have occurred between the Lakers and James, the option merely being a pathway discussed by rival teams as they survey the situation.
The Lakers would also have no real reason to buy James out of his contract, as the team is still aiming to contend while formulating the best long-term roster around Dončić. They could trade James, but that would potentially put them in danger of fouling up one of their other chief goals — creating salary flexibility for next summer. The team has been resistant to taking on longer-term contracts in an effort to maintain flexibility.
James’ $52.6 million contract comes off LA’s books at the end of the 2025-26 season; if the Lakers were to, hypothetically, trade James to the Golden State Warriors for Jimmy Butler, who is nearly 36, they would have Butler under contract for the 2026-27 season at nearly $57 million. If the Lakers were to, hypothetically, trade James to New York for Karl-Anthony Towns, they would have Towns under contract for three seasons and more than $170 million.
In addition to the Lakers’ roster concerns, any team that trades for James must weigh the assets it gives up to acquire him against how many years he has left; James is still one of the best in the league but is nevertheless entering his 23rd season and has acknowledged retirement is a possibility. To trade for James is to envision winning an NBA title this June.
One team linked to James — the Dallas Mavericks — does not have interest in gutting its roster to match James’ salary in a trade, a team source told The Athletic.
And if there were a potentially better trade out there for the Lakers — one that would create cap flexibility while also addressing some of the team’s other needs — James has a full no-trade clause in his contract and could veto any deal that would send him somewhere he doesn’t want to go.
There remain a few variables that could yet swing this saga in another direction. Dončić is eligible to sign a lucrative contract extension on Aug. 2 and remains the Lakers’ most pressing priority. There is also the chance of a trade offer materializing that could suit both James and the Lakers — certainly not impossible, but also more complicated to pull off than talking heads might have you believe.
The Lakers have additional roster work to do. The team can create a roster spot by waiving guard Shake Milton, and team sources have said that improving the team’s point of attack defense is a priority. But the addition of Ayton answers the Lakers’ questions at center at least in the short term — the most obvious area of growth from last year’s team that finished third in the West before being bounced in five games by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round.
On Sunday, Paul joined SiriusXM’s NBA Radio and echoed what he’s said in numerous private conversations recently: LeBron should, and will enjoy his summer. It means, among other things, that if there is a big, controversial decision for James to make, it would come in the build-up to the regular season.
In the meantime, there has been strenuous rehabbing of James’ injured left knee. He’s played golf and hosted friends in Akron, Ohio. There was a trip to Puerto Rico to see Bad Bunny. And there was his stop in Las Vegas, where he spoke with teammates and assistant coaches on Saturday before coming back to watch a second game with his wife and daughter.
Among the summer league Lakers whom James and teammates were watching was Bronny James, LeBron’s son, who is under contract in Los Angeles for three more seasons and who is improving under the organization’s developmental plan.
At the end of last season, James called playing with his son the top achievement of his career.
“It is not even close. To be able to play the game that I love and to be able to be along with my son this whole year has been one of the most gratifying, satisfying journeys I’ve ever been on,” he said.
And over the past week, as fake trades and free agency scenarios played out in the stands, one of the biggest reasons for James to stay played well on the court.
The Athletic’s Sam Amick contributed.
(Photo: Luke Hales / Getty Images)
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