LeBron James Will Begin Next NBA Season on Los Angeles Lakers After Trade Talks ‘Kind of Gotten Quiet’
LeBron James will begin the 2025-26 NBA season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
According to NBA insider Zach Lowe of The Ringer, trade talks surrounding LeBron and the Lakers have “kind of gotten quiet.”
“LeBron’s on the Lakers. I’ve heard it’s kind of gotten quiet now after it was the talk of Summer League,” Lowe said on The Bill Simmons Podcast. “There doesn’t seem to be like a clean solution either way. Everyone’s saying we should expect them to be on the Lakers. That’s my expectation.”
LeBron will make $52.6 million next season in the final year of his contract. He turns 41 in December.
Why has LeBron’s future with the Lakers become such a hot topic? Well, his agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group, told NBA insider Shams Charania of ESPN, “LeBron wants to compete for a championship. 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.”
That statement by Paul was LeBron’s way of putting pressure on Rob Pelinka to improve Los Angeles’ roster and guess what? It worked.
After losing Dorian Finney-Smith to the Houston Rockets, Pelinka and the Lakers added Jake LaRavia, Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart.
Luka Doncic recruited Ayton and Smart to the Lakers, so LeBron should thank Doncic, not Pelinka.
Despite being the oldest active player in the NBA, LeBron is still really good. He averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists last season in 70 games, finished sixth in MVP voting and made the All-NBA Second Team.
LeBron joined the Lakers in 2018. He became the leading scorer in NBA history in 2023.
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