Recently, news about Lakers superstar James's possibility of leaving the team is rampant. This stems from several public statements by James' agent Ritchie Paul recently. Paul said: "As of now, four teams have contacted us to try to explore the possibility of trading James, but we have no substantial negotiations so far. James wants to continue playing for the Lakers, and he also hopes to play on a team full of competitive championships. He also wants to continue chasing the championship."
Not long ago, James decided to execute a contract worth $52.6 million for the last year. This is a rare situation in James's career. During the years that the Lakers have played for, especially in recent times, James has chosen the N+1 contract, with +1 being the player option. Doing so will ensure that James maintains sufficient flexibility in future team selection. But this summer, James didn't do that, he just executed his last year contract.
Does this mean that the 2025-26 season will be James' last season in the NBA? Very likely. Although 40-year-old James has always maintained a good competitive state and is still one of the league's gamers, he is already at the end of his career. James said more than once: "I don't know when I will retire, but obviously there is not much left in it (the career).
But at the same time, James still hopes to continue to compete for the championship in his limited career. The Lakers traded Doncic last season, but the Lakers were eliminated by the Timberwolves 1-4 in the first round of the playoffs. James once said at the time: "I don't want the season to end so early."
Entering the offseason, the Lakers saw the crazy strengthening of their Western Conference competitors. For example, last season's second-placed Rockets in the West renewed their contracts with coach Uduka, veterans Van Vleet and Adams, and the deal was given to Durant. But what about the Lakers? Let important 3D player Finney Smith leave and introduce Laravia, who was played for last season by the Kings. Although the latter has good shooting ability, its defense is obviously not as good as Smith. Kolalavia has a lower price, so the Lakers are more willing to sign such a player. In addition, the Lakers also signed center Ayton. Ayton, 27, is in the golden period and was once a talented inside player. After all, he was the No. 1 pick in 2018. On the offensive end, he can meet the team's position needs, but it is hard to say how much help he can bring to the Lakers in terms of defense, basket protection, rebounding, etc.
Can the Lakers lineup break through the siege in the extremely fiercely competitive West? It seems unlikely to be very good now. The new champion Thunder is in the golden period, and the Rockets have the foundation for the championship. In addition, the Timberwolves, who have been talented and entered the Western Conference Finals for two consecutive seasons, the Lakers are still the "runner" role in the 2025-26 season. And this is obviously not the situation James wants to see. In the past years, James had spoken out to the outside world through his agent Ritchie Paul many times to put pressure on the Lakers to sign. This time, he may also use the same trick again.
At present, it is not ruled out that there are differences between James and the Lakers in the team building. According to reports, the Lakers hope to gradually clear up their cap space to have enough cap space in 2027 to introduce another top player. If this is true, then the Lakers will be the stage of building a team lineup in the past two or three years, rather than winning in the present.
In 2024, the Warriors contacted James to ask him if there was a possibility of joining, but James refused. A year has passed, and James saw the current Lakers lineup and development prospects. Did he regret his original decision?
Text/Beijing Youth Sports Song Xiang
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