The LeBron Situation Is Out of Control

The LeBron Situation Is Out of Control

If LeBron somehow actually left the Lakers, there are just three teams he would realistically go to. I want to break down exactly how each of those would work. But is he actually serious this time? I mean, we have heard LeBron make noise so many times, but actually, this does feel different because dude picked up his $52.6 million player option, which has literally never happened. Okay, Brun always renegotiates and add on another player option year. has never in his 22 years been on an expiring contract until now. So, we already knew that something was up. But then his agent, Rich Paul, said, “LeBron knows the Lakers are building for the future, and he also wants to compete for championships. We understand the difficulty of winning now while preparing for the future. So, we want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage of his life and career.” Oh, the passive aggressive LeBron statement. It’s a classic. But what happened? I mean, I thought the Lakers got Luca Donic without having to gut their team. If LeBron’s concerned about winning titles, aren’t the Lakers in a better position than before? Also, didn’t LeBron just say like last week that winning rings shouldn’t matter that much? I don’t know. But so far this off season, they have lost Dorian Finny Smith to Houston and not made any big trades. Yes, they got DeAndre Aton, which is okay, I guess. But let’s not pretend all of a sudden like DeAndre Aton has been anything but a punchline since he left Phoenix. Okay, the man calls himself dominating and he’s not being ironic. Not exactly self-aware. Plus, he likes to post up and score himself. He is not the elite loba threat that Luca loves to play with. But LA still has draft picks to trade. They haven’t put Austin Reeds on the market. Ruie, I mean, we just saw the Bucks do the most desperate move to keep their superstar happy. What is wrong with the Lakers right now? Well, for the first time in LeBron’s entire life, the team he is on is prioritizing someone else. It is now about Luca Donuch. See, Luca is 26 years old, so he can win now and years in the future. So, LA is trying to play the long game, which pisses LeBron off and a huge ding to his ego. I mean, the man is 40 years old, could not give a damn about the Lakers future. So, what does he do? the only thing he knows how to do, which is threaten to leave his team. But is he actually serious this time? Well, honestly, I don’t think LA would actually ever come out and say this, but I don’t think they care. See, now with LeBron on an expiring contract, the Lakers will have full max cap space next off season that would allow them to replace LeBron with a new younger co-star for Luca. I actually think the Lakers were happy that he didn’t decline the option and extend because now they can move on. Either trade for a star into that cap space or use the money to sign multiple highlevel players to surround Luca with depth for this era of basketball. But if LeBron left, where could he go? Well, of course, the dude is now feeding into the rumors, wearing a hat that says welcome home while playing golf in Ohio near Cleveland. And yes, LeBron knows what he’s doing with that social media post. Okay, this is not a coincidence. Nothing ever is with him. So, with the caveat that this is very unlikely, where could he go? I mean, we have seen crazier things happen with this Lakers team in the last 6 months, but the first franchise is those Cleveland Cavaliers. Braun wants to win now, and the ultimate sign of win now is being in the second apron. And the Cavs are kneede. They won 64 games last year but still lost in the second round. That is panic type stuff. And Cavs reporter Chris Fedor says everyone could go except for Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. Storybook ending for Bronn to end in Cleveland with their second championship. However, there is one huge problem with this deal. Because the Cavs are so expensive, they would have to dump a good player for nothing just to get under the second apron. and then trade another high-priced guy to make the money work. For example, the Lakers would get maybe Darius Garland and Dean Wade, but the Nets would get Jared Allen and the Cavs would get Braun and maybe a 2026 second round pick. This actually works financially, but the Cavs would have to dump Jared Allen to his old team and then trade Darius Garland all for 40-year-old LeBron James. That is insane. Or I guess the Lakers maybe would rather have Jared Allen at center because Luca handles the ball and Garland’s a point guard. The point is the Cavs would have to be so desperate to make this happen and I don’t think they are yet. Next up is the Golden State Warriors. And no joke, Dubs get LeBron, Lakers get Jimmy Butler. That is how simple this trade could be. Now problems are like Jimmy’s under contract for 2 years which kills LA’s plan to have max cap space. But not only that, this would make LA worse. Okay, like him or not, Braun was a top 10 player last year. The man made second team allNBA and can still play elite defense when the game is big. The Lakers should want more than just Jimmy Buckets. Would the Warriors be willing to throw in a first round pick, a good young player like Brandon Pazimski? I mean, Braun and Steph have talked about playing together for years and had awesome chemistry at the Olympics, coached by Steve Kerr, by the way. This trade would be almost as big as the Luca deal in terms of breaking the internet. The only reason that I think it’s semi-realistic is how clean that trade is compared to other teams on this list like the New York Knicks. Now, you’re going to see rumors about LeBron going to Denver with Joic or the Spurs with Limbby, but let’s be honest, okay? LeBron is a big market guy at this point outside of Cleveland, his hometown. I cannot see him going to a smaller city. Now, we did have that leaked video where LeBron says to his friend that Savannah wants him to retire, maybe move to New York. So, this trade would be the Knicks getting LeBron and the Lakers getting OG Anobi, Mitchell Robinson, and Deuce McBride. Now, this gives LA not only an elite wing defender and score in OG for Luca, but a backup guard and center depth, but that is a lot to deal from New York for LeBron James. They could also just deal Carl Anthony Town straight up, but the Lakers would be idiots for doing that because it locks them into Cat’s long deal. He doesn’t play defense. Neither does Luca. But there is one cheat code that can get LeBron to any of these teams easy. If he does this, dude could land with Steph, Cavs, Knicks, whatever. But before we get to it, why not Dallas? There have been rumors and it makes sense. The Mavs and Lakers front office like each other. Obviously, Braun is tight with both Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving. But if Braun’s mindset is win now, then Dallas is not ideal because Kyrie is down all next year. And their second best player right now is 18-year-old Cooper Flag. Okay, LeBron hates playing with young guys more than anything, no matter how talented they are. But that cheat code we talked about is for Braun to demand a buyout from the Lakers. then he could sign with pretty much whatever team he wants. But right now, a trade would have to gut any team he goes to, as you just saw, and most teams wouldn’t even be willing to do that. It would be a cold move for Braun to pick up a $52 million player option and then ask for a buyout. But if LA wants to maintain their reputation as a star- friendly franchise, then maybe they say yes. Now, for the record, I don’t think any of this is likely going to happen. But Braun has never been in this position before. His team is now prioritizing someone else and there just might be a chance he is not bluffing. But the Bucks will do anything to keep Giannis happy. We just saw them do the craziest move in recent memory. But you know what? If Giannis ever wonders how did things get so bad in Milwaukee, he can only blame himself because dude cannot keep getting away with this.

LeBron James has yet again subtly threatened to leave the Lakers. Is he actually serious this time? Some people say yes so this is a look at where he could end up.