Getty LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
If the Los Angeles Lakers are going to part ways with LeBron James this summer, there will be no end of interested suitors.
However, according to CBS Sports Sam Quinn, the Golden State Warriors should be viewed as potential favorites to acquire James if he and the Lakers do part ways.
I ranked all 29 other teams as possible LeBron trade destinations earlier today.
If the Lakers are content to let masterpieces like the one LeBron just gave us go to waste, I can think of quite a few teams that are ready to appreciate him.
“James wasn’t even a little subtle in April when he said that Stephen Curry would be the player in today’s league with whom he’d most want to play. The Bay Area isn’t quite New York or Los Angeles, but it’s still an extremely appealing market thanks to Silicon Valley. Golden State’s ownership has hinted that it doesn’t plan to pay for a half-billion dollar payroll in the near future, but perhaps they’d change their tune if it meant access to all of the ancillary revenue streams James creates. The Warriors may not have felt they needed James to compete for a fifth championship before the season. Their poor start could make them more aggressive,” Quinn wrote.
If LeBron is looking to put himself in a position to continue contending for a championship in the near future, then the Warriors should be among the first teams on his list of desired destinations. After all, Golden State are the reigning NBA champions.
Lakers Could Trade LeBron James In The Summer
According to Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, there is plenty of reason for the Lakers to consider moving on from LeBron this summer, especially if the team fails to make the post-season for the second straight year.
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“They’re not dumping a legend, they’re simply abiding by his request, which changes the scenario completely. Seriously, how much longer can they believe that James is still capable of leading a young core into the playoffs? When are they finally going to admit that James is a wasted talent without contributions from Davis, and when are they going to realize Davis might never be a consistent star again,” Plaschke wrote on December 29.
Assuming the Lakers do decide to move on from LeBron in the summer, it will be interesting to see what type of return they get for a player who is in the final years of his career but is still putting up some of the best numbers in the league.
LeBron James Could Stay With The Lakers
Despite rumors to the contrary, LeBron may decide to remain with the Lakers for the duration of his contract. According to long-time NBA writer Marc Stein, via his SteinLine newsletter, LeBron’s family are settled in Los Angeles, and he may be unwilling to uproot them.
On his 38th birthday … column on watching Year 20 LeBron James:
“Family reasons and LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION, as we’ve noted here many times, were the true driving forces that prompted James to leave Cleveland for Hollywood in the summer of 2018. Those are believed to be the same forces that would keep him from urging the Lakers to ship him somewhere that he has an actual chance at ring No. 5. His oldest son Bronny is a high school senior. Another son, Bryce, is a high school sophomore. They’re budding prospects thriving in Southern California. James presumably doesn’t want to uproot them,” Stein wrote.
Unfortunately, we’re not going to know how this saga plays out until the current season reaches its conclusion, and that isn’t good for LeBron, the Lakers, or the fanbase, as now, everyone finds themselves in purgatory.
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Vaunted Rival Named Favorites to Pry LeBron James Away from Lakers