Lakers to ‘transition from LeBron’s to Luka’s timeline’, Will James stay in LA? | FIRST THINGS FIRST

Lakers to ‘transition from LeBron’s to Luka’s timeline’, Will James stay in LA? | FIRST THINGS FIRST

live from New York. It’s a show that’s given a special shout out to my friend Hayden or also his name might be Aiden, but I was in London and Hayden or Aiden came up to me and said he loved the show from London, bro. I said, “Thank you, Hayden or Aiden.” I forgot it. I forgot it. It was just loud in there. That’s awesome. Yeah. Shout out to Hayden or Aiden. It’s like Ryan and Brian. how far this show has come from two years ago Wilds is getting asked to take pictures at the Belmont a few miles from here to being recognized on the streets of London. Can I tell you another thing? Yeah. Sorry. We got Do we have time? We have a 2-hour show or three-hour show. Another guy said, “Oh, hey, you know, I like the show.” I said, “Do you want a picture?” He’s like, “Nah.” You serious? Yes. It’s my nightmare and it happens. I’m good. I’m just Are you sure? Maybe we do one of those character drawings or something. He said, “No, I’m good.” All right. We’re starting with Ramona’s Opus on the Lakers and LeBron, which featured a bottle of Opus One. Ooh. That Luca and the Lakers brass enjoyed at dinner. LeBron didn’t even have a sip. A dinner that centered on a future that seemed independent of LeBron James. As the party exited out the front door, Lucas team and the Lakers team, the franchise, not the full team, just you know, JJ, the franchise unofficially made that message public. It is ready to usher in the Luca Donic era in Los Angeles, even if that means sunsetting the LeBron James one. Brew, your reaction to this quote and the article overall. Well, this quote in the article, uh, yeah, as it should be. Okay. I anyone who doesn’t think they should be prioritizing building around 26-year-old Luca over 40-year-old LeBron is either suspended from reality or wants to create drama. Correct. I mean, seriously, like Rich Paul in his statement that started a lot of this said, “We understand it that you’re building around Luca.” LeBron from the way he interacted with Luca on the podcast to the way he deferred to Luca during the season shows that he gets it. I understand. And so I don’t know why like yes they’re building around Luca and LeBron is now the second guy on the team or in the franchise and LeBron has accepted that I think. You sure? I mean the way by by his actions on the court he has. Yeah, by his words he has. That’s the part I agree. Like I I’ll let you finish. It’s just anonymous quote saying on the court. I talked to Rich Paul about it and I look Luca didn’t change the way he played. LeBron did like that’s to me like Wendy who’s one of the authors of this always says actions over words. LeBron’s actions once they got Luca was I I will be malleable and you and certainly in the short term I’ll be malleable and you do be do Luca stuff it’s going to make Luca or Brew come on the show one day and be like Luca Donic Ballhawk like a guy but but he’s a great one but here here’s what I’ll say because you’re going to say the article said he was frustrated right I in the moment no matter how much you may like Luca no matter how much you understand this is the right thing to do. You’re still a human being. You’re still a human being who has been the best player in the league for decades. Plus, it’s hard in the moment still to deal with that. When Dwayne Wade said, it’s not my team, it’s LeBron’s team willingly. That was hard for him to handle. Like, you still have to deal with the emotions, but LeBron is a big boy. He can handle it. And just like Wade moved past it and they went on to win championships, I think LeBron moves past his the the dent to his ego a little bit or whatever it is and they can play together. Look, the one thing that to me LeBron could genuinely be upset about is they not offering you a contract extension. Like, okay, we got you under contract for next year. We’ll give you a player option for the year. You know, you could you could say, “Okay, that hurt a little bit. They didn’t want to do.” But I’ll be honest, if I’m the Lakers, I want LeBron on one-year deals going forward. At 40 years old, LeBron could fall. I don’t think he will, but he could fall off in February and just not be the same player anymore and then why would you have want to lock him up next year for 52 million? So, I just think and Dave McMinnon reported during summer league that he had talked not from sources, from talking to Rich Paul like I know you have and I have uh that they didn’t ask for the player, they didn’t ask for an extension and so the here this article was puzzling to me. Oh, and not just because the most noteworthy piece at least the piece that seemed to be real news got then edited post publication. So the the the initial the the the most like oh wow the Lakers were really sending LeBron a message. They didn’t inform him the team was being sold, but they informed Luca. They then edited and it’s not like they did it surreptitiously. They they wrote in the article that they had fixed it that um turns out LeBron was notified. He just didn’t post a public acknowledgement of it. But the beginning of the article and again I want to say this on the front end. I adore Brian Winhorst and have as much respect for him as anyone in the business. And I have one of the only things that I I said publicly that I thought was a real I didn’t understand it from LeBron was LeBron going at Wendy because I just thought it was unjust like on so and I don’t know Ramona, but everyone that I knows Ramona is she’s great, the best. You worked with her forever and she’s super plugged in with the Lakers. So I’m not I I I’m not attacking any of that. I’m just saying from my head they presented that dinner with Luca Luca’s manager Pelink and JJ as almost scandalous that LeBron wasn’t there. Yeah. And I thought I would not expect LeBron to be there for the dinner whose entire purpose is we really want Luca Donuch to sign a contract extension. What would he like to make sure he signs the contract extension? the Lakers number one priority this offseason more than anything is that sometime in August Luca re-ups right and so it would be weird to me for to be like and LeBron’s going to come too like I that would and so I didn’t find that do you think I’m wrong here like no I I thought it was good story I thought great storyelling and good scene I didn’t view it as like nope LeBron but LeBron wasn’t there no I mean but that was the the the context the context and it was that’s why I I like that. That was likely just an innocuous meeting. You know, it was to center on Luca. We no no, it was nothing scandalous about LeBron not being there. In fact, if you invite LeBron, it could potentially send to Luca the idea that he’s not necessarily the number one. Correct. Which is so, but you can write it in a way that kind of like, oh, that LeBron was there. And so I felt I felt like this is what has been so confusing to me. I don’t know why the Lakers seem to be in a rush to get out of the LeBron James business. And I don’t know why the Lakers in this article they talk about wanting to maximize their flexibility for the sum next summer and the summer after. Well, next summer, the best available free agent will be LeBron James because the other ones are Kevin Durant, who he’s better than and I think probably won’t be available. I think Durant’s probably signing extension Houston, Trey Young, who would not work with Luca Donuch, and De’aran Fox, who I don’t think would work with Luca and LeBron’s better than. And so it there’s no like big man available. No, it’s it’s two years from now. Giannis is available. Anthony Davis is available. Uh Donovan Mitchell’s available. Is Joker Joker could be? I would doubt he would be, but whatever. But the idea that the Lakers plan is to manicure around the edges this year, let LeBron walk next summer for nothing, keep that money open so in two years they can get a guy. If I’m Luca, I’m like, “Hey guys, me being your top priority, you know what’s my top priority? Winning right now.” And I don’t I don’t expect the Lakers to find a player better than LeBron James to replace LeBron James this year or next year. Two years from now, maybe. But now you but for like you’ve said, the pressure starts to mount on Luca every year and Luca’s not locked up. So, I have I’ve been I’ve just been baffled by this. I don’t think that but I think what they’re doing is just trying to be smart and maintain flexibility. Like I if I don’t I don’t think they’re saying we’re not making any moves, you know, because we’re saving all our money for 2026 27. If the right piece becomes available, I think they’ll readily make a move. They obviously they don’t have a lot of ammunition with which to make big trades, but I’m just saying if the right move came about that was good for now and the future, I do think they do I just think before we move on quickly, I also think we are learning over the last decade that NBA free agency and I’m not even talking about apron stuff is drastically different than it previously was because guys do what guys used to do is be like I might want to go somewhere else. I guess I’m going to play out this contract, be a free agent and be fetted by the whole league and there’ll be a whole thing. Now what guys do is be like I would like the maximum contract extension and in one or two years I will probably ask for a trade with that locked in. So the I like you understand what like and so the idea that y like Giannis might not be a buck in a couple years. Do I think Giannis is ever going to actually hit free agency? I don’t like I think that either he signs an extension with Milwaukee, unlikely, or gets traded somewhere that signs him to an extension. And so I like the way to acquire superstars is different now than it had been really just a decade ago because like these like who’s the last true superstar to just hit free agency, I guess. Well, and a lot of it is that a lot of great teams don’t have cap room, right? I mean, Donovan got traded like and Jaylen wasn’t a free agent yet. You know what I mean? The those guy it just LeBron did it obviously. Jaylen wasn’t a free agent. Jaylen Brunson was I said he wasn’t a superstar yet. Oh, wasn’t a super like you know what I mean? He was the there was a real debate about how much money to give him. Yeah. And so, all right. Uh meanwhile, from LeBron’s perspective, uh the article writes, uh Lakers had already made their statement in not offering James a contract uh beyond this season. It was abundantly clear the bronze time as the face of the Lakers had for the first time. A planned end date whether 202526 season to be James final season in the NBA is up to him. The release date was set spring 2026. Luca in LeBron James out again from Ramona and uh Brian Windhorse. Should LeBron want to move on. This is from LeBron’s perspective, not the Lakers perspective. Look, if he could get to Cleveland or New York, then I think that’d be a great move for LeBron because if he goes to either of those teams, they are the favorite, the definitive favorite to win the East. And as Indiana showed us, once you get there, anything could happen. They were a fourth seed in the freaking Eastern Conference and almost won the championship. And so, yeah, if LeBron’s like, man, I want I want to go out with one more championship, one more ring, if not more. If he could get to Cleveland or New York, that would be great. And New York could be a trade for Carl Anthony Towns. Cleveland would likely have to be a buyout, but they would be the definitive favorites in East. Outside of those moves, I think the place for him is the Lakers. I agree. You’re not going to get a player, you know, Giannis, Joic, Shay. Other than that, who’s better than Luca that you’re and you’re not going to any of those teams. So, you’ve already got a teammate that’s going to be better than anybody else you’ve had. Last year, they were 15 and8 with Luca and LeBron playing together. All right. And that was on the fly. That was LeBron for the first time in his life having to be the second guy offensively on a team. and Luca with a bunch of new players coming off injury, not built players aren’t necessarily built around him. And they go 15 and eight. And here are the teams they beat. Denver twice. I get it. Regular season, but still Denver twice, Houston twice, OKC, Memphis, right? Indiana, New York, the Clippers, Minnesota, and Dallas. Like those are all the teams they beat good teams. So, if I’m the Lakers, I’m saying and if I’m LeBron, I’m saying we should be Luke and I should play even better together. You know, JJ Reic has spent all off season figuring out what’s the best way to maximize these guys. You You have a center now. No matter how you feel about DeAndre Aton, I know you feel he’s better than Jackson. Now, he’s my guy. He’s always been your guy. You guys loved him. I mean, so, so I’m I’m not saying, look, I think OKC, Denver, Houston, and Minnesota are better than them right now. But I think the Lakers are good enough where they can legitimately have hope that we’re going in this and hey, we’re not the ultimate favorite, but we going to take our best shot. And we do have a shot. Wilds, what did I just circled it in in blue, but what did I write? You see, this is not going to work for the show. What if you guys just keep saying the same stuff? I’m not going to say Nick grew up watching you, idolizing you. I I mean, copying my taste, copying your style, studying my style. It’s a dream come true for him right now. Absolutely. Absolutely. It’s like Luca playing with LeBron. Exactly. So, that’s not a surprise. I expected it. Fair is fair. I mean, it’s true. It’s true. I I mean, he’s the Momes guy, right? But who was the first to say Mahomes and Jordan? You read that? He was in Sports Illustrated. He opened that up as a little kid. I guess I’m a whole guy now. I wrote I’d want to go to New York or Cleveland, otherwise I’d stay in LA. Um, so to add to that point then to kind of circle back to where this whole thing started because I am surprised by it to a degree. Um, I do think the Lakers, and this is where I think some of the frustration comes, they have not made a an offseason trade in three years. The last one involved Tailon Horton Tucker for Patrick Beverly. Remember how long ago that was when the legs trade for Patrick Beverly and you guys taunted me in Jersey? That was the last time they made an offseason trade. And when you do have expiring contracts and when you do have clearly it is not what we would consider a complete roster. I think it’s a complete at this point starting five. I you know what I mean? Even though I’m not as high on eightton as Brew is, I like the starting five. I think I think Luca’s awesome. LeBron just finished sixth MVP voting. Austin Reeves is third option. Some people were smart enough to say he’s better than Bradley Beiel years ago. Um and like Ruie is good at his role and DeAndre’s fine. After that, I get very anxious about the team. And I think we saw in these playoffs, in particular the NBA, depth is more important maybe than ever, particularly when your best or second best players going into year 23 and is 40 years old. Um, but I don’t think I this all started because of the statement Rich Paul sent out. And so I just want to remind the audience what’s in that statement. And the only thing I truncated was him saying glowing things about the partnership because the So I didn’t cut out any context. Here is that statement. At least I There we go. LeBron wants to compete for a championship. He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance at winning it all. We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that and are supportive and want what’s best for him. Now, maybe that last line was a little journalistic license that the Lakers want what’s best for LeBron as opposed to if what’s best for us is also best for you, awesome. But the rest of it to me is as reasonable as it gets. Like you guys are looking at a 5 10 year timeline. Mhm. I am looking at a one or twoear timeline. I now that’s now I will be the I will mean Nick Wright. I Nick Wright think if I were running the Lakers my five and 10 year timeline the decisions I make over the next one or two years would be very similar because I think it’s going to be I think it is very very likely that over the next four years the best teammate Luca Nanchic has is age 40 LeBron James. So I would be trying to maximize right now. Now, would I trade three future picks and swaps for a marginal upgrade? No. But would I treat this off season the way that teams that feel like, man, we can win a championship? Uh, you know what I mean? Would the Rockets? Yes. And like, does that I that’s how I would do it. If the Lakers have somehow been like, you know what, gap year, even though we have Luconic and ostensively LeBron James, then of course LeBron should want to move on because it might every year might be his last year. And it’s all, you know, as Bru has said LA, his last time in the playoffs might have been his last time in the playoffs because he can get hurt and whatever. Like I totally understand the guys I’ve got to go for it and we have a it’s it’s realistic. It’s not like I you know what I mean? We’re projected to finish 12th and I’m like trade stuff. Luca is here and it feels to me Brew like a lot of the Lakers moves post Russell Westbrook have been anticipating a steeper LeBron decline than has arrived. that they you know what I mean that they’re like well this is probably the end and he’s our best guy but he’s probably not going to be as good as he was last year and so you know what I mean and possibly you’re right and then last year he was better than he was the year before and so I think that’s kind of got him stuck I I think if they’re looking at this as a gap year as you said and I don’t think they are that would be a mistake not only to LeBron to Luca yeah that’s the Luca Donic is in his prime. I I mean I He’s not 27. They say that’s when the prime starts. He’s in his prime and I don’t know maybe but I don’t know that 10 years from now he’s going to be the same player. No, just because of you know the his body and the way and way he stays in shape and all that. So you have to be going for it now. And the heat is on Luca. SJ’s now got his MVP his championship. The heat is on Luca to win. So I’m sure and I bet he’s let the Lakers know I’m trying to win now. already been to the finals a year ago. I I I also though wonder the reason this offseason’s so unsettling to me is because we all said they have to get a center. We know they’re getting a center. What were they going to do if Portland didn’t buy out Aton? I’m just curious like was there a plan A that they scuttled because I don’t see it. like what was it’s possible they caught wind that he might be you know bought out or yeah they may have had a plan but the bottom lines they so far so good with DeAndre Aiden and I get it they need athleticism they need million bucks it’s a good addition that was a great Yeah. [Music] Hey, [Music] hey, hey. [Music]

The Los Angeles Lakers are transitioning from LeBron James’ timeline to Luka Doncic’s, and 4 teams are monitoring LeBron’s situation. Nick Wright, Chris Broussard, and Kevin Wildes discuss whether or not the Lakers and LeBron will stick together.

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Nick Wright, Chris Broussard, and Kevin Wildes team up on First Things First. The trio offers their take on a bevy of sports stories alongside special guests from across the sports world.

Lakers to ‘transition from LeBron’s to Luka’s timeline’, Will James stay in LA? | FIRST THINGS FIRST
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