2026-27 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

It's definitely tailored to them. We will see how the results play out.

 

LeBron retiring in Cleveland always made the most sense. Miami is the only other team I can kind of see it happening with. All the other stuff is just Rich Paul making his guy feel wanted.

 

The teams pursuing LeBron James do not have any optimism and everyone thinks he is going back to the Cavaliers, per @WindhorstESPN

 

I’m happy that he’s able to stay in LA.
Seems like a good dude and I wish him well.
We will miss his shooting for sure, but I understand why we moved on.

 

Prepping for Pelinka to sign DeRozan and pitch him as our star 3&D Lebron replacement

 

derozan's going to the clippers so he and rui can revenge midrange us to death 4 times next year.

 

the defense is going to be scary when Kessler is out

mamu indicates he isn't a bad post defender but no rim protection and he can't guard on the perimeter
grimes one on one metrics look good but then is defensive rating isn't very good. (maybe because he's a bad rebounder - he'l fit right in lol)
hayes and ayton are gone
sexton is one of the worse defenders in the league probably
reaves has a big target on his back: if you got two good iso scorers, you're going to force the team to only help on one and use the other to attck Reaves
Luka - actually improved a lot imo. underrated JJ coaching job on him

 

still mad we can't deal with dallas, btw.

just daydreamed a vando/knecht for pj washington deal that solves our biggest problem. if he played for a different team, i think it might be possible.

apropos of nothing, what's the word on gg jackson's team option in memphis? they have a roster crunch there. along with ziaire williams, he's exactly the kind of reclamation project that interests me.

 

It’s disappointed disappointing the way the Lakers treated LeBron. I can’t say that enough. Rob has a real f***ed up way of doing things. It’s b**** like. And it was b**** like the way they acted last year. It was b**** like for Jeanie to say LeBron should be great full. I know Lebrons petty as f*** and has an ego. The size of Mexico. But this man did bring us out back to prominence winning a championship choosing us. And brining Anthony Davis to L.A. which led to Luka. And we knew Luka it was his team.

but damn you don’t treat people like that. They would’ve never done that to Kobe. And Rob should know better than anybody. I’m not letting Mark off the hook either. Basketball players are different. They are a little more emotional. But Mark just had the Kershaw situation. I’m sure they were in constant communication with Clayton on his 1 year deals. I know LeBron is still a top 25 player.

the right smart move would’ve been right after the season and before the draft meeting with LeBron at his house. Just like they might they met with Luka at Craig’s. And they should’ve said Rob and Mark or even Jeanie. This is the money and this is how it’s going to be allocated. We want you back. But our first move is making a full court press to Walker Kessler and why it works. Lebron understands basketball. And then we shift to Grimes and Manu.

Why we love Cameron Carr. How that’s going to expand his career. How that will help Bronny. That’s what I would’ve done as a GM. When I was in basketball. That’s what made me successful. I could always talk basketball. With anybody. And I never hesitated to take a player to lunch and discuss basketball. People want to know what’s the key to success in sports? It’s class treating people with respect. Then you get a good reputation as a good guy. That smug guy b******* Rob was doing not a good look. And I’m a Rob guy. That’s why Magic called him a snake and said you can’t trust Rob. But I digress. It is just what he did. So f*** it.

but it was stupid. If you just said to him hey this is what we’re going to offer you it won’t be a lot but we’ll have a better roster. Maybe he wouldve understood. If he would’ve said hey you’re going to be the last guy we pay but here’s why maybe he understands. You definitely needed to do that and clean up when you didn’t want to give him the extension last off-season making him a free agent.


Honestly I can see LeBron going to the Clippers because he doesn’t want to leave L.A. he doesn’t. Ruis there His favorite coach he hand picked that’s represented by Klutch is there Lue. His Kluth player who trains with his son is there Garland. And they moved on from Kawhi. And Ballmer would like the publicity of having LeBron there for 1 year. It’s not a long term contract. They have a vet Brook Lopez and they probably bring in Demar Derozan to make him happy.

maybe we sign Demar Derozan. But I see us signing Kaminga. Backup center Nic Richards Mason Plumblee Valunchinez Kelly Olyneck.

I was and am 100% with us getting Kessler first. I said that and he should’ve been the Lakers number 1 priority. That’s the perfect player LeBron needs that protects his bad defense.

and the Lakers should’ve told LeBron the need to sign Reaves right away because of Detroit. Maybe the Lakers and Rob were scared of leaks.

I don’t know. It doesn’t pass the smell test. And it seems like LeBron just wanted to feel wanted.

 

lebron wouldn't even hear our plans, man. sorry, that's petty and lame. bye.

 

Lol It's not Rob it's Rich Paul after Lakers refused to pay 50 + millions for 41 years old

LeBron James's agent, Rich Paul, confirmed a decision on James's next NBA team isn't imminent, stating it won't happen in the coming days or weeks. Paul emphasized James is taking his time, viewing his future as a "blank slate" and making a choice "truly for him" without pressure. James has already informed the Lakers he won't finish his career there, with the team prioritizing Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves.

 

how did the lakers treat lebron poorly? because they didn't want to pay him a s*** ton of money when he's 41 going on 42?

 

writing was on the wall once AD was traded. I don't know all things considered pretty amicable split. no one is really bad mouthing the other and frankly if this is most the click baiters can get pretty benign

 

It's going to be tough to understand the circumstances unless you're in LeBron's shoes. The way he was treated when he was the focal point of the franchise versus how he has been treated the past couple of seasons probably affected him from a social aspect.

I think he just didn't like how he was being left out of the organization's decision-making.

Not saying it's anyone's fault but from LeBron's perspective, he probably felt he was being scapegoated for the Lakers problems early on in the season, felt he wasn't being involved as much with how the Lakers planned on moving forward with the roster, and felt it was time for him to move on.

From the Lakers end, they probably felt that with Luka, they have no choice but to pivot or they risk losing him.

It's just in the best interest for both sides to mutually part ways. But it does suck from the perspective that LeBron on this Lakers team would be the missing piece.

There are shooters, scorers, and an elite defensive big on the team.

Walker, LeBron, Reaves, Luka, and Grimes would be right up there with any starting five.

 

lebron was probably pissed they traded AD, and even more so that he wasn't told about it. but disrespect that is not

i'm sure the relationship soured a bit after he started (rightfully) getting blamed for the westbrick debacle, but at the end of the day i don't think lebron holds any ill will towards the lakers

 

nobody saw the luka trade coming. before that, i think lebron was going to get the kobe treatment, where we pay him a ton of money until he feels like quitting. but it would have been completely irresponsible to pursue that path once luka fell in our laps. i think lebron understood that.

he probably should have tried to get traded last summer, tbh. i really thought he might, and i think we would have obliged (provided the return didn't kneecap our plans for this summer).

i just think it's silly he's letting what's basically a personal slight cause him to take less money to play on what might be an inferior team (and certainly an inferior team than the one he'd be on had he stayed).

it's about happiness is one way to frame it, but it's really about pettiness, imo. no team was going to let him control things anymore. as someone put it today, we just had an incumbency issue. that's not our fault. wherever he was playing was going to have this issue; he happened to be playing here.

 

Yeah. I think this was the inevitable end once Luka came onboard. Also think that deep down no matter how annoyed they are with each other, both sides know that going scorched earth on the other side is a bad idea.

I tend to think LeBron will regret not coming back to us from a competitive standpoint as I think we are going to be better than some think.

But on a personal level, I think he always wanted his story to end in Cleveland and the teams shift to Luka just gives him an excuse to go ahead and make that happen.

if he ends up anywhere other than there or Miami I will fully join the critics. I’ve never really been a LeBron guy despite recognizing his clear ability and signing with any of the other teams would just be spite.

But going back to Cleveland just seems like how his story should end.

 

you sure about that?

 

I see your point. Nah just telling him hey we aren’t paying you a lot.

 

we don't know what happened, so we can't say it was Rob's fault or Lebron's fault

the one thing we know is that retaining Lebron on team friendly contract was the first thing to do in order to be able to contend this year, and it appears this wasn't even attempted, so it seems the Lakers didn't prioritize him at all, and that's obviously on Rob.

I'm no Lebron fan-boy, I think he can really be a passive-aggressive diva, but I think we as fans have a lot more to thank Lebron than Rob to be fair. Rob would have lost his job ages ago if Lebron didn't come to the Lakers.