WHAT DO LEBRON & LAKERS REALLY WANT?This may be the first time since the Lakers signed LeBron James that the two have not been perfectly aligned. While LeBron has wished at time that the Lakers would be more aggressive in upgrading the roster, the two sides have generally been… https://t.co/JsLcv3UqzS pic.twitter.com/trnlbs8e0F— LakerTom (@LakerTom) July 11, 2025
…….ok…..I’m going to say one more thing on this then I’m out in all th “Golly Gee Willickers Whatever Will LeBron DO?!?!” crap.. They are getting what they want. Both sides. LBJ wants to get paid, play with his kid and win a ring in exactly that order. Heck, playing with Bronny might even come first. Roch Paul’s corporate BS aside, and the level of attention that has gotten is pathetic to me, means nothing.
The Lakers are hoping he’ll announce this a a his swan song but I don’t think he will, they got the best they can hope for now: James in what could be his final year as a NBA icon while wearing a purple and gold uniform playing in LA. Every stat he piles onto his record setting career shows up as a Laker. If they manage to win a title because, as you like to continue to remind me the road to the title is wide open (which means that the Lakers as currently constructed have as good a shot as anyone after OKC) it means they tie Boston (again) and LBJ gets to 5 titles which matches him with Magic and Kobe and gets his jersey retired on the wall for sure. Yes, he wants 3 jerseys in 3 cities.
Next summer, just 10 months and change from now, there will be questions about what kind of deal it would take to keep James a Laker. By then a lot will have changed. We’ll have seen a full camp and season of what Luka and LeBron can do. If any of our other forthcoming free agents (Reaves and Rui, mainly) take a step forward in their games or show they should remain a part of the core to stay and/or get a raise.
It is in both LeBron’s and the Lakers best interests that he stay right where he is. In the 26-27 summer two whole teams are projected to have cap space avaikable: Memphis and Brooklyn. Those teams will not be on LeBron’s list of teams he wants to end his career on. Could another team make room via sign and trade or trading players into Brooklyn’s projected $19 or Memphis’ $4 million in projected cap space? Sure. But that amount won’t be enough to entice LeBron to switch cities. His list is likely a short, probably unrealistic one. The Lakers are likely the only team that will overpay to keep him in the fold. Mark “I Help ICE” Williams and his deep pockets will be the owner by then. The stakes will have moved and the positioning on the field will be very different in 300 or so days.