Speculating about whether LeBron James might change teams one more time is a “fun parlor game,” but little more than that, opines Brian Windhorst of ESPN (Insider link).
As Windhorst explains, despite the Lakers‘ up-and-down play this season and in recent years, James has repeatedly made it clear both publicly and privately that he wants to remain with the team. He had an opportunity to push for a trade at last season’s deadline when the Warriors expressed interest in him, and he could’ve explored a change of scenery over the summer as a free agent. However, he had no interest in either case in leaving the Lakers and that hasn’t changed, according to Windhorst.
“The Lakers or any team who might want to trade for him don’t really have any say in the matter,” one league executive told ESPN. “He’s got a no-trade clause. Unless he goes in and tells (Lakers owner) Jeanie (Buss) he wants to leave, it’s not even a discussion.”
James’ position means the Lakers’ priority on the trade market is upgrading the roster around LeBron and Anthony Davis. As Tim Bontemps observes in that same ESPN story, it may take two separate trades for the club to address the issues with its roster — rival scouts and executives believe Los Angeles would like to add both a point guard and a big man, says Bontemps.
We have more on the Lakers:
- The Lakers and Wizards have had preliminary conversations about the possibility of a Jonas Valanciunas trade and league sources expect head of basketball operations Rob Pelinka to ramp up those talks once Valanciunas officially becomes trade-eligible on Sunday, reports Anthony Irwin of Clutch Points. According to Irwin, the expectation is that the Lakers will offer Gabe Vincent and multiple second-round draft picks, perhaps along with one of their minimum-salary players for financial reasons. For what it’s worth, David Aldridge and Josh Robbins of The Athletic reported on Thursday that the Wizards have been “adamant” that they intend to hang onto their veterans, including Valanciunas, for as long as possible due to their positive influence on the team’s young players.
- The Lakers have had internal discussions about the idea of signing free agent point guard Markelle Fultz, according to Irwin, who suggests Fultz could provide backcourt depth in the event that the team trades D’Angelo Russell and/or Vincent. Given L.A.’s current position relative to the second apron, as well as its full 15-man roster, signing Fultz wouldn’t be a practical option until the club has made at least one move on the trade market.
- The front office has been unwilling in recent transaction windows to make guard Austin Reaves available in trade talks, and Sam Amick of The Athletic said during an appearance on Buha’s Block with Jovan Buha (YouTube link) that there’s no indication that stance has changed. “They’ve been very reluctant, specifically, to discuss Austin Reaves who I only highlight because he’s a good, young player on a very team-friendly contract that would inspire other teams to play ball, negotiation-wise,” Amick said (hat tip to Bleacher Report). “But that, to my knowledge, is still a non-starter.”
- Dave McMenamin of ESPN takes a look at three reasons why the Lakers have lost seven of 10 games since their 10-4 start, including inconsistency and poor play on defense. One Eastern Conference executive told McMenamin that he doesn’t believe the Lakers have the personnel to be a good defensive team, while an Eastern scout said the club badly needs to acquire a good point-of-attack defender who can make three-pointers. “Honestly, they need what everybody wants,” one Western Conference scout told ESPN. “It’s that versatile wing defender that can guard two through four and then can make an open three. Your Mikal Bridges, your OG Anunoby, those type of players. And those guys, either: One, aren’t available; or two, if they are available, they’re not cheap, they’re at a premium. Everybody in the NBA wants guys like that.”
Been upgrading this roster a while now only to do the complete opposite. The superteam king got exactly what he wanted at every turn and this is the result. Jeannie and Rob lost the reigns a long time ago, if they ever had them. In today’s NBA with this CBA the big free agent destinations will probably struggle to sign stars outright too. Yay, how enjoyable watching these ratings and media darlings fail epically. C’mon Mr Silver, get the ref’s on board. The good old laker savour so many times over the years. Going forward the league may have to pull some more Magic Johnson type tricks, Opps I mean legitimate trades for top picks. Go lake show.
LeBron is dragging the Lakers down as he hits 40 and beyond. They will keep paying him like they did Kobe way past when those two should have retired, from a winning perspective.
It’s ticket sales and revenue, vs. winning, for the Lakers at this point. They don’t want to trade LeBron for the sake of winning more games. Those plus/minus numbers that came out this week for LeBron and LeBron/Davis are crazy on the minus side. Star power works both ways, as long as the money is rolling in.
Ted Knox, I’m not a Laker insider, but I don’t believe you’re correct. EVERY sports franchise cares deeply about winning because it drives profit. Some markets, notably LA and NYC, can keep a team profitable through mediocre or, even, losing seasons. Attendance may not decline, but winning, especially if sustained, increases the gate, while OpEx stays constant. As in, the premium that fans pay for a winning ticket is pure profit.
The Lakers gate decreased 10% last year, mostly attributable to declining demand. In all markets, less winning leads to season ticket holder attrition and price erosion. The NBA’s rising success helps all teams, but losers less so.
In terms of equity, the Lakers have a $7.1B valuation, almost $2B less than Golden State, who are in a much smaller market. But Golden State makes almost 2x on every ticket as the Lakers. The Lakers, like the Knicks, could be significantly more valuable than Golden State… if the demand for tickets increased. But that requires more winning.
What players averaging 23, 8, and 8 should retire?
Just LeBron?
Play some D and those empty stats will reduce drastically.
Not even a full day after the last Lakers focused report…
I thought the NBA had 30 teams and some kind of tournament going on…
the wizards are going to ask for a li ot more than a 2nd rounder Vincent for Jonas. More like a 1st round pick.
arc89, IMO, Valunciunis won’t fetch a first round pick. He was let go by New Orleans, and there was no interest in him other than the $10M deal from the Wizards. (As in, the Warriors, or any other team, could have signed him for $10M.)
If acquiring first round picks was as easy as signing a journeyman, paying him for a fraction of 1 year (in this case about $4M), and then trading him, then more teams would do it.
At this stage of his career, Valunciunis is a solid back-up C. He’s been an over-average offensive player at times in his career, but usually a defensive liability.
Arc was talking about what the wizards would ask for, and I agree that they will ask for a 1st. They’ve accumulated a lot of 2nd round picks already, and have indicated that they are looking for 1sts. I agree with you that they will be unlikely to get a 1st for JV. Given the age of their roster and how cheap JV is, they might be wise to just hold on to him. He eats minutes, is a good influence/teammate, and at least plays some watchable basketball at a baseline of competence that some of the other options can’t match.
Love the way Valanciunas plays, if my Wizards were anywhere near being ready to compete, hes exactly the type of player I would want to add to the team.
For Lakers
I like the idea of acquiring Bridges or OG from Knicks
And no one likes your idea
Dude is such a Diva, he should be a 6th man off the bench at this point. He doesn’t play defense and can’t shoot.
Trading Gabe and a vet min bum for Val and then adding Fultz would be a really good bit of business.
The other deal I always see rumoured is Vando plus either Christie or Wood for DFS, but that didn’t get any mention in this article
Dlo AR Bron AD Val
Fultz Knetch Hachimura DFS
Solid 9 man rotation that