This is a sentence no one would’ve seen coming at the start of the season: The Los Angeles Lakers might need to trade LeBron James this summer.
James’ apparent dissatisfaction with the Lakers’ front office rose to another level during All-Star weekend when he floated the idea of ending his tenure with L.A. sooner rather than later.
There are caveats to this: James is under contract until 2023, but he’s also eligible for an extension this summer. James’ comments over the weekend were about leverage, but if the Lakers can’t improve the roster around him, then they potentially risk letting him walk for nothing after another season.
So the Lakers can end the drama early and start a rebuild by trading James and collecting pieces in return for the post-LeBron era, which wasn’t expected so soon.
What teams make sense for a LeBron trade? Let’s look at three options: