LeBron James will be a free agent very soon, and the future Hall of Famer is in no rush to decide. At this stage of his career, he knows exactly what he wants.
For now, the 41-year-old is taking his time. The Lakers, however, have yet to formally put an offer on the table.
NBA Analyst Brian Windhorst Details Two Ways the Lakers Can Re-Sign LeBron James
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst recently broke down the two approaches Los Angeles could use to bring James back. The first, he explained, puts the four-time champion at the top of the priority list.
“There’s two ways to deal with LeBron,” Windhorst said on ESPN.
“One way is to go to LeBron first and say, We’ve got $50 million to spend. We’re going to get you under contract first, and we’ll figure out what to do with the rest of our space because you are the top free agent or one of the two or three top free agents on the market, and we respect you and everything. Let’s get you under contract, and then we’ll worry about everything else later.”
Keeping James would benefit the Lakers, especially with Luka Dončić now on the roster. The two have played together for only a season and a half, leaving plenty of untapped potential.
Los Angeles is chasing major roster upgrades this offseason, but those moves carry less weight if James is not part of the picture.
So, Windhorst outlined a second path for the Lakers.
“You can go about spending your space, and then you come to LeBron later and say, ‘LeBron, we’ve added our players, and we have $12 million for you, $19 million for you, $23 million for you, whatever it is,” he added.
“We’d like to come back. And they could still do it his way first, but right now they seem to be operating like spend first and come to him later. And they seem to have prioritized it that way.”
MORE: ‘Sam Presti Has To Retire’ – NBA World Reacts to Thunder’s $134,000,000 Isaiah Hartenstein Decision
It’s true: the Lakers made a notable free agent move this week. They signed Austin Reaves to a massive four-year deal, locking up one of their top offensive contributors from last season.
Now, James has always had a way of letting free agency drama simmer without giving much away. Every offseason, he hit the market, and the biggest question in basketball centered on where he would land next.
This time around, though, the story feels noticeably quieter than it ever has.
That does not make it any less worth following. James can still shift the balance for a legitimate playoff contender.
A return to Los Angeles remains on the table, but the roster still carries real flaws. Adding Dončić and Austin Reaves helps the cause, yet the Lakers still have plenty of holes left to address.
James clearly wants full control over this call. So, all anyone can do right now is wait and see how things unfold from here.
