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NBA Insider Believes LeBron James Could Ditch Lakers for Warriors To Play With Stephen Curry This Summer
LeBron James can either sign a free agent contract or make a trade demand this summer, if he wants to. But the Lakers have been pretty clear that they really want to keep the King on their team.
The NBA trade deadline day might have passed but the rumors mill is as strong as ever when it comes to LeBron James.
The future of James is in the air throughout this campaign and it’s not ending soon.
According to multiple reports, there is a possibility of a split between the franchise and the player in the offseason.
Adrian Wojnarowski reported a few days ago that the Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers tried to make a move for LeBron on the deadline day but the trade didn’t go through.
However, James does have the player option to decline, which would make it simple for the King to have a change of scenery in the summer.
The LA Lakers have no plans to tra4de James, but they can’t do anything if he plans to leave in the summer.
What did James Fischer say?
Additionally, while James joining his old rivals from the Bay Area may have seemed unlikely in the wake of ESPN's report earlier this week, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports noted on Yahoo's "No Cap Room" podcast that the Warriors' continued search for a new co-star for Stephen Curry means that James joining them in the summer is a realistic possibility, even though it was unrealistic at the trade deadline:
"I firmly think that there's a chance of LeBron moving this summer. A lot of what transpires in the off-season will depend on first- and second-round picks, and so forth."
"If Atlanta and the developments involving Trae Young and Dejounte Murray are among the most talked-about scenarios, then perhaps the question is, "Oh, could Trae become available"?
"Will LeBron in that player option (year) decide to potentially leave the Lakers?" is probably the most important question behind that one.
It won’t be the first time that the Warriors do something like this in the NBA.
They shocked the world when they welcomed Kevin Durant to the Warriors in the summer of 2016 after winning the NBA in 2015.
This move would rock the NBA and place Golden State once more at the center of the basketball universe.
Lakers to suffer?
If James were to sign a veteran's minimum contract with the Warriors in free agency, he would have to forfeit his roughly $51 million player option.
However, if James demanded an opt-in-and-trade trade, the Lakers would have to cooperate in exchange for receiving assets back.
Whatever happens, the Lakers would suffer greatly from such a deal.
In other words, you don't get better trading James; you get worse and must start over, regardless of how much cap space it frees up or which players you get back in a possible trade.
Fortunately for the Lakers, James is available to them till the end of the campaign.
The Lakers will be hoping that the core from last season can help them to another Western Conference Finals like the previous season.
The Lakers have shown signs of emergence in the last few weeks but remain 9th in the Western Conference.
The Lakers are crossing their fingers, hoping that James will ink a fresh contract with them this summer. They're eager to bring in another superstar to support him and Anthony Davis on the team.
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