The Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James have been in the news quite often over the last couple of weeks. After reports came out that the Lakers wanted to move on from James following his decision to opt in to the final year of his contract, trade rumors immediately started swirling.
Despite the rumors running rampant, James remains with Los Angeles. It doesn’t seem that he’s likely to part ways with the franchise this offseason.
If anything, James and the Lakers could split after the 2025-26 season. His contract will come to an end and he will have a decision to make about potentially retiring or playing for another team. There is still a chance Los Angeles could re-sign him as well.
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That being said, the commonly accepted idea of late has been that the two sides are not on good terms.
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A new quote from a Lakers’ executive may start putting those rumors to bed.
As shared by Keith Smith of Spotrac, the executive made it clear that the team is happy that James still remains a part of the franchise.
“Whenever you sign a player to a deal with an option, you willingly give them the control to initially guide the situation,” the executive said. “But this notion that a player option gives the player all of the power is pretty silly. If they opt out, the team is then a partner in re-signing them or not. If they opt in, then the team is a partner in whatever happens next too. For LeBron, he had a player option and made his decision to opt in. We’re just happy that he’s still a Laker.”
Following those comments, it’s fairly clear that Los Angeles is comfortable with James being on the team. The Lakers may not view their future with James as a long-term future, but the 2025-26 season seems to be clearly in their plans.
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Last season in Los Angeles, James played in 70 games. He averaged 24.4 points per game to go along with 8.2 assists, 7.8 rebounds, and a steal. James also shot 51.3 percent from the floor and 37.6 percent from three-point distance.
Even at 40 years old, James remains one of the best players in the NBA. He could still play for another three or four years at this rate.
While the rumors provided a lot of entertainment and drama, the Lakers seem more than happy to keep James this season and the two sides will have to make a decision next offseason about the future.
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