Warriors Want Lebron?! Jonathan Kuminga Extension FREEZING Offseason For Golden State

Warriors Want Lebron?! Jonathan Kuminga Extension FREEZING Offseason For Golden State

LeBron James to the Golden State Warriors. Suddenly, his career and future with the Los Angeles Lakers are in serious jeopardy and Golden State has popped up as a team with potential interest in trading for him. I’m Trevor Lane. This is the Basketball Bulletin. Make sure you subscribe right here to the channel and don’t forget to turn on those notifications. I’m out here in Las Vegas for summer league right now. And this story broke today from Ramona Shelburn and Brian Winhorse to ESPN about LeBron James, his future with the Lakers, how murky things are getting, and it’s got me wondering, could we really be looking at a LeBron trade in the near future? Joining me is Donnie Freeman. Donnie, how you doing, man? Doing good. I’m excited to finally be bigger than you on the video or I’ll tell I’ll tell you that like cuz I’m I’m bigger in real life and like I don’t it doesn’t it doesn’t get portrayed that way. Oh, sure. Rub it in angles, you know? But So, it’s nice. I’m excited. So, here’s what we’ve got going on. Um, guys, 53 if you didn’t know. Yes, that that’s it. I am indeed Super Mario. Um, we understand the difficulty in when I’m not really. Uh, we understand the difficulty in winning. Now, this is from Rich Paul a few weeks ago. While preparing for the future, we do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his career. Uh, he wants to make every season he has left count. the Lakers understand that and are supportive of him and want what’s best for him. That’s what created this whole buzz around LeBron and his future with the Los Angeles Lakers with many thinking that this could be it for LeBron and the Lakers. And then Ramona Shelurn and Brian Win added this piece in that after that statement a handful of teams including the Golden State Warriors who tried trading for LeBron uh a couple of seasons ago considered again whether to make an offer. Now, clearly, if you read the entirety of the article, and I’ll have a full breakdown of it over on Lakers Nation, but if you read the entirety of the article, it’s seems like the Lakers are pretty much ready to move on from LeBron James. So, if they are ready to make that transition, I think they’re going to wait until do it till next summer when they have a bunch more cap flexibility. But LeBron now as an expiring contract, $52 million on the books, could potentially ask the Lakers, hey, rather than wait till next summer, let’s do this now. Why don’t you trade me? He has a no trade clause, but what about him potentially landing in Golden State to play with Steph Curry, Donnie, could you see something like that going down? I mean, yeah, I I could actually see that going down. It’s kind of crazy in hindsight when you think about the fact that they called about LeBron a couple years ago and LeBron shot that down. He was like, “No, I don’t really want to do that.” And Jeie get left it up to LeBron. If he wanted that, they would have said, “Okay, let’s figure out a deal.” But he said, “No, I wanted to stay uh loyal to the Lakers at that time.” And that ultimately did not wind up happening. And now we’re in this weird situation where there’s a lot of source wars and all this other stuff kind of going on about the LeBron situation. Is he content? How how much does he want to stay? How much does the organization even want him to stay at this point as well now that they also have Luca to pivot to? Um they’re trying to plan around the future, which is understandable. It’s just all messy at this point. And it it personally to me I think if that trade is on the table to go to Golden State or another team like New York or something like that, I would say that it may be beneficial for both parties if they were able to work something out. You think this could actually be better for the Lakers and LeBron James? LeBron may be going some place where Do you think the Lakers really want to contend this year? Yeah, that’s that’s the thing, too, is I don’t think that they’re super serious about Okay, so let me let me preface this by saying I think they always want to contend, right? But I don’t think they’re super dead serious on like it’s this year or bust, which they shouldn’t be because they’ve got a longer runway now. But that’s where the disconnect is is both parties want to win. It’s just they have a more a longer outlook than LeBron who’s like, “Okay, well, let’s win this year. Let’s go for it this year.” Right? So, in terms of this year specifically, I think the Lakers are like, “Okay, if we win, great. If not, well, we’ve got another eight, nine years. Let’s let’s try again next year.” Right? So that’s where the disconnect is. Yeah. And I think we’re we may be hitting that point where what’s best for LeBron and what’s best for the Lakers may no longer be the same thing. And I think in general whether or not we agree with how the Lakers approach things. It has largely been what’s best for LeBron has been best for the Lakers over the last, you know, five, six years here. But um but we may be at that divergent point right now. So let’s say it is the Warriors, which is really interesting because the Golden State Warriors are a team that has long held interest in LeBron. They have not made much of of an attempt to do anything so far this summer. I mean, the Jonathan Kaminga situation is hanging out there, which actually could get rolled into this. Uh they they are long rumored to be landing Al Horford. Same thing with the Anthony Melton, but I think everything is getting held up by the Kaminga situation. So, let’s take a look at at that and the Warriors cap sheet right now. What they could be doing. They’ve got Steph Curry, you’ve got Jimmy Butler, you’ve got Draymond Green. I mean, a very simple trade would just be Jimmy Butler for LeBron James. And and there you go. And the Lakers would be taking back a little bit of salary there, but they’re already hardcapped at the first apron. So whatever, right? Is that something that could be beneficial? Really, we’re talking about three parties here. We’re talking about the Warriors, the Lakers, and LeBron James. Would that make sense for all three just to say Jimmy go to the Lakers, LeBron, go to the Warriors, and off we go? I don’t think they would want the Lakers would want that extra year on Jimmy’s salary. That’s that’s the sticking point with that. They the Lakers are dead set on not taking on future salary. even even like a one-year extra salary. They don’t really want that. They’re doing a bunch of like, you know, minor two-year deals, things like that. Uh and Jimmy would technically fit into that if they are like, “Oh, let’s wait for 2027.” But I think they would want that immediate flexibility. Yeah, I think they would want that immediate flexibility of of like if LeBron’s salary or Jimmy in this case is off the books this off seasonason, let’s do something with that instead of waiting for another year. Um, so I I don’t think they would want that, but I I think it would be good for the other parties involved. I mean, Steph has been making fun of LeBron’s golf swing and and rightfully so. He’s been doing that on on social media, but what about uh we talked about the Jonathan Kaminga front? I don’t know if if the Lakers are trying to make sure they’re not taking on future salary. Yeah, that’s I don’t know that Jonathan Kaminga being the the Lakers being the receiving team for Kaminga in a signin trade, which again, they’re already hardcapped at the first apron, so we’re not worried about a receiving a player via sign and trade hardcapping them again. But if the Lakers were to get say Jonathan Kaminga in that kind of a deal, I don’t know if he is the caliber of player that they’d be willing to sacrifice their long-term plan for. So maybe you could see it turn into like a three team deal with expiring money going to the Lakers and Jonathan Kaminga winding up somewhere else. But this could when we look at well why is aside from just restricted free agency being so problematic for players this summer, why is Jonathan Kaminga still kind of dangling out there? Maybe it’s for opportunities, potential opportunities like this popping up where the Warriors say, you know what, we need some extra outgoing salary. We want to put LeBron with Jimmy, with Draymond, with Steph, and then really go, what if we able to give Jonathan Kaminga the $30 million that he’s that he wants and then we build a deal off of that? That becomes interesting. But I guess first, do you agree with me that Kaminga with the Lakers long-term with Luca maybe a little bit dicey? Well, I think he’d be nice next to Luca as an athlete out there. He’d be really fun with Luca, but I’m just I’m skeptical about the stuff I was talking about earlier, the salary stuff. Like, he’s going to want to deal. They also have to pay Austin. I just don’t know where that fits into their plans. I’m I’m a little bit murky on the Austin front also, just separately. So, Austin’s going to get 30 million. It’s hard to then also have another player making like 30 million, which is what was I don’t know. Like, that’s that’s where things are are murky, right? Like because I I think Austin, especially after that Herb Jones deal the other day where they were on similar contracts. Like I think Austin really is going to want the bag and he’s going to be in a contract area. He may be trying to get 35 plus. And I don’t know if even like again separately from this the Lakers would love to extend Austin at that number either. So that’s where it’s just murky. So if if you’re going to add Kaminga to that mix as well, I think it’s a bit much. But like I said earlier, I would like for LeBron to maybe make his way somewhere. I just don’t know if that place is Golden State because of the history, because of the online fans, because of um the way it could be perceived, the way KD was perceived for going there. Maybe maybe it’s also better if you’re LeBron, you got one year, maybe two max, you go to the Eastern Conference. Like there’s a lot of different factors aside from just matching salary that I think you could play into this. So, what’s the the ideal landing spot? And okay, well, we’ll get into why the ideal landing spot in my opinion is actually very problematic, but what’s the ideal landing spot for LeBron then? If it’s if there are concerns over Golden State and what the reaction would be, how how this would impact LeBron’s legacy if he teamed up with Steph Curry, let’s say he does want to go east, where should he go? There’s a Okay, well, I mentioned the Knicks earlier. The Cavs are like the super obvious one, but they have to gut their team to get LeBron there in the first place. They can’t really I mean, I just can’t see. They have to give up Darius Garland. They have to give up uh they have to give up dip below the apron first, right? Like they’ve got Yeah, that’s just it. They have to dip below that apron in order to do it. And so that’s the the problem. So yeah, you’re going to see them get rid of so hard to trade for him. Yeah. Um I would actually think that him in Milwaukee could be interesting. I think that could be pretty fun, you know, for like a year or two alongside Giannis. That could be pretty good. Like you could you could really go him in a few different destinations. You could go down the list and say like him on a team like Orlando. He doesn’t match their timeline, but if they all of a sudden said, “Hey, let’s try to win it this year.” That could be really good, too. Well, remember LeBron has a no trade clause. Does he wave that to get to to get to Orlando? I think he’s heard enough Mickey Mouse rings. He doesn’t need to be close to Disney World. No, no, no. That was just an example even though I would like it but uh that was just an example in the point that I think that he could go to a number of teams and you could make something happen there. Orlando the Lakers would probably love to trade with them. They’d be like give us back Fron or give us but Milwaukee I think makes a lot of sense. Milwaukee too. Milwaukee maybe a little bit tough in terms of putting the salaries together. But what about uh what about New York? Finish things out in the Big Apple. I brought them play a year maybe two. I mean who knows? He could play three. Like he was great last year, but yeah, the end is coming. And so this is not just where do I think I can go win. This is where if he does want to leave the Lakers, where do I want to finish my career? I mean, New York is a big stage, man. That that could be an interesting thing. It’s a stage befitting a LeBron like that. That and he’s all he’s always said he loves playing in New York uh at their arena and he he loves just everything about it. That’s about as close as it gets to LA, right, is New York. And so he can get a very similar I think send off and everything in New York and they would love him there. And then the thing about it is that again they’re on the Eastern Conference and it’s not as hard to match salaries and they’ve got a stacked freaking team anyway. So there’s that. But then there’s the alternate. You’re never going to make everybody happy. There’s the alternate of oh he’s going to such a stacked team. He better win it all or else, right? Like you know, but I think you just flip him one for one with Cat, right? You could do something like that or maybe you put together a couple of other guys. Would you want you want cat long-term if you’re the Lakers on that that salary would he be again we just talked about it with Kaminga. Would he be enough to where you would say okay we’ll we’ll take on long-term money or would you say and again LeBron has no trade clause anybody in the deal that he wants to play with he can just say nope I want that I want that guy to be on the team I’m going to but would you take cat if you’re the Lakers or would you be pushing for Bridges or OG or something like that? I I actually forgot about the Lakers piece of it because I was talking about LeBron for so long. I don’t think they would want Cat either for the same reasons. They would look towards one of those wings. I think they’d be comfortable paying OG, but the Muel Bridges one is interesting for its own reasons because OG’s a long-term deal, but and it’s a lot. Mel isn’t like that’s where it’s like ah maybe you could do something with Muel. Like there’s a lot of inbuilt flexibility with that. So maybe that’s where it goes. And I think LeBron would want to play with OG. What about going and playing with his old friends in Dallas, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis? That’s one of the only Wouldn’t that be ironic, don’t you think? Yeah. One of the only West teams I could see him going to is Dallas. Um, but that would also be a little bit of a weird one, too, just to try to make that one work and retain the players that he would like to play with. Yeah, I mean, you can stack up a few guys with with Dallas because they’ve got I mean, they’ve got Klay Thompson. They’ve got 16 million there. Obviously Kyrie and Anthony Davis would stay an an AD for LeBron trade would be hilarious and would actually fit both teams fairly well, but I don’t see that happening. So you could stack up what Clay PJ Washington Cooper flag could just throw him in there as stack it off. No, but but you know like a Caleb Martin, you know, they’ve got some you could stack up a few guys. Now, the Lakers have a pretty full roster, so it gets a little tricky there when we get into roster spots and everything, but that’s that’s an interesting landing spot, at least if he does decide to go west. But I agree ultimately like if you’re LeBron and you think, I want one more shot to win a championship, go east, man. It’s wide open. Go to an Eastern Conference team if you can find a way to do that. Yeah, I think I think New York makes a lot of sense in that case. Uh because Cleveland, it’s just so hard to get him back to Cleveland. Uh, and there’s the only other team that he has any history with is Miami, and I think they’re off the table, too. So, now ultimately, do you think LeBron feels slighted enough by the Lakers and their clear pivot towards being a Lucaentric organization and saying, “Hey, LeBron, thank you, but we’ve got a new guy now and we’re going to focus on him.” Do you think he feels slighted enough to actually say, “I want out.” Clearly, he’s not happy with the way things have have been going. Clearly, he’s not. He understands it, but he’s not super happy about it. Do you think you feel slighted enough to say trade me? I think I think that he feels like, and this is me and my thoughts, right? And not to put any words in his mouth, but I think he thinks that it’s okay for them to prioritize Luca. He bought into it. He played second fiddle to Luca, let Luca handle the ball, play Luca’s game, all that stuff, and he just fit in around that. But I also think he feels like they should prioritize him as well. Like they they’re not they’re only like 100% here instead of like 5050, 75, 25, 80, whatever. Like it’s 100 zero is at the point right now. And so I think that he feels very slighted. But I also think he wants to retire in LA. Like so that’s where it’s also at. And and so that’s where the disconnect is with that because he wants to stay, but they don’t want to keep him long term. And I can understand not wanting to give a 42 43 year old player, you know, 50$60 million at that point, whatever it is for the long term and having that flexibility, you know, locked up. So I don’t know that he wants out. I think he wants to retire in LA and I think at 41 years old, you’d be hardressed to move and move your family and all that stuff and maybe he just plays separately from his family, which I don’t think he wants to do either. Yeah. I I don’t know. I I don’t think that he would ask out ultimately. I think we’re that we’re going to get to a point in the off season where it’s time to start ramping up and he’s going to start acting like nothing ever happened and just ramp up and get to work. Yep. Yeah, I agree. That’s probably where this winds up, but uh you never know. I think teams are going to come calling and maybe test the Lakers on this whole situation with LeBron James. then there could be something that benefits like we said all three parties, not just the Lakers here, but LeBron obviously that’s going to be the important piece with that no trade clause and as well as the team that could be getting them. So, a lot of stuff could still be going on this summer around the NBA, which is the big picture way of saying make sure you subscribe right here to the Basketball Bulletin. We appreciate all the support that we’ve received here on the channel. Hit that subscribe button, turn on those notifications as well. Till next time, everybody. See you and stay safe.

The Lebron & Lakers Situation is Getting Strange, in this video we talk about that and the fact the update is that the kuminga sign and trade his holding up.