Getty LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on against the New York Knicks during their game at Madison Square Garden.
In the wake of LeBron James keeping mum about his plans on his $51.4 million player option for next season, Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes proposed a trade that will net the Los Angeles Lakers a haul before the 39-year-old superstar walks for nothing this summer.
Hughes’ Proposed Trade:
New York Knicks receive: LeBron James
Los Angeles Lakers receive: Julius Randle, Evan Fournier, 2024 first-round pick (via DAL), 2024 first-round pick (via DET), 2024 first-round pick (via WAS), 2025 first-round pick (via MIL), 2025 first-round pick (NYK)
“The trade package coming from New York reflects James’ impending free-agent status but allows the Lakers to come off looking like they got major assets. In reality, four of the five first-rounders heading to Los Angeles come via other teams and feature significant protections. The Lakers can say they got five firsts, Fournier’s expiring contract and Randle (whom they could re-route to a third team or keep), but the only truly choice pick is the unprotected 2025 selection coming directly from the Knicks.
That might be the best L.A. can hope for, particularly if we assume James gets to dictate where he’s going, which would prevent other teams from beating the Knicks’ offer,” Hughes wrote.
In this trade scenario, Randle would replace James, the superstar who replaced him before, and would return to Los Angeles in his prime. Now a 3-time All-Star power forward, Randle would also get reunited with Anthony Davis, whom he played with in New Orleans in 2018 after leaving the Lakers.
Insider Believes LeBron James Is Using the Knicks to Pressure Lakers Front Office
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, who has covered James since his high school in Akron, Ohio, the Lakers superstar is just using the Knicks as leverage.
James trolled the Knicks fans by posting an emoji of the Statue of Liberty and a King crown on X, formerly Twitter, to a pregame interview saying playing for Knicks crossed his mind in 2010, and finally doing his postgame interview draped in a Knicks towel.
“Obviously, LeBron often wears towels, okay,” Windhorst said on the February 5 episode of “The Hoop Collective” on February 5. “This is why it’s so brilliant. Because he has perfect deniability he can be like, ‘I just put a towel around my around my shoulders. What are you talking about? You guys are out of your mind.’
“LeBron, this is what he excels at. He computes all this stuff. Of course, he was cognizant and aware that he was putting on a towel that said New York Knicks. And why would he mess with the Knicks? Because he was using the Knicks as a tool to pressure the Lakers.”
Before James and the Lakers beat the Knicks, his agent Rich Paul came out in the open, telling Windhorst that his client won’t and didn’t ask to be traded.
But it still didn’t stop the fans from speculating about James’ future.
Gabe Vincent Is on Track to Return, Jarred Vanderbilt Is out 3-4 Weeks
According to Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer, the Lakers’ top free agent acquisition Gabe Vincent is on track to return for the stretch run. But whether he would return to the court with the Lakers or another team is a story for another day later this week.
“Lakers guard Gabe Vincent, who’s become included in Los Angeles’ outgoing trade conversations, sources said, appears on track to return by early March. Vincent underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee during the final days of December. He was given an 8-10 week recovery period and has so far been recuperating on schedule, sources said,” Fischer reported on February 5.
Meanwhile, Jarred Vanderbilt has been diagnosed with a right mid-foot sprain. He will be re-evaluated in approximately 3 to 4 weeks, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania.