FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

According to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7, LeBron James “wants out of LA” and the Los Angeles Lakers “want him gone.”

James picked up his 2025-26 player option with the Lakers. He controls his future since he has a no-trade clause in his contract.

The Lakers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2025 playoffs in five games. James averaged 25.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.8 blocks in the five-game series.

After James picked up his 2025-26 player option with the Lakers, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group issued a statement to Shams Charania of ESPN.

“LeBron wants to compete for a championship,” Paul said. “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.”

Yeah…the radio guy from Arizona has his finger on the pulse of the NBA lol

Horford or Time Lord are my favorites for backup center.

Me too, still hoping for Richard’s or Hayes.

Ah yes, the most meaningless stat in basketball!

Looking at what some other teams have done so far…I gotta wonder what kinda scale you’re grading on.

Nick Richards— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) July 2, 2025

Horford is a free agent Tom. Don’t need to trade for him.

I’m told the Lakers have offered a $5M deal to Al Horford with their Bi-Annual Exception. pic.twitter.com/WmZWkIsA4J— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) July 2, 2025

If the Lakers can get Al Horford for the BAE I still would. That's just a human being I would really like around Deandre Ayton as he tries to get back on track.— Sam Quinn (@SamQuinnCBS) July 2, 2025

Something to keep in mind salary-wise for the Lakers: if they use the BAE, they only have around $500,000 left in hard cap space.That makes trades much harder. Like, the often-discussed Rui+Knecht for Wiggins trade isn't possible without another contract involved (Gabe?)— Sam Quinn (@SamQuinnCBS) July 2, 2025

Ayton, Horford, Hayes center rotation would be huge upgrade.