Realistically, LeBron has played ball with the Lakers and President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka far more than anyone would have likely expected.
During his time in Cleveland, LeBron repeatedly leveraged his contract to force the franchise into win-now moves. He would sign a one-year deal with a player option, then use the threat of him moving on to another franchise as leverage to ensure the team kept making moves to remain competitive.
In Los Angeles, though, he’s been far more patient. Maybe too much so at times.
Perhaps content with his move to Southern California, LeBron has sat back and trusted Pelinka and the front office as they wasted away the final years of the LeBron and Anthony Davis era.
Now, he doesn’t appear to be so patient.
With retirement looming, LeBron returned to his tried-and-true method of using leverage to put pressure on a front office on Sunday. LeBron opted into the final year of his current contract, but it came with some statements about his desire to compete and his uncertainty about the Lakers current roster.
The leverage isn’t quite the same as it was in Cleveland, but the pressure is still there.
As positioned, the Lakers have fairly clean books heading into the summer of 2026. LeBron, Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, Gabe Vincent and Maxi Kleber all are expiring contracts, which would open lots of cap space.
LeBron is certainly aware of that and weary of the Lakers playing it conservatively this summer with eyes on next summer to really go for it and build around Luka. And who can blame him?
While he was open to taking a pay cut last summer, it came with the parameters of specific players, namely, proven veterans who could make the Lakers championship contenders like James Harden and Klay Thompson. Those players don’t exist in the free agent market this offseason.
As much as Lakers fans may have wanted him to take a pay cut to sign a player like Nickeil Alexander-Walker, that’s not making the Lakers a title contender next summer and really is only setting the franchise up to be in a better spot after LeBron leaves.
So, the attention now turns to the Lakers for their next move.
The team has plenty of ways to improve the roster. Many of those aforementioned expiring contracts are mid-sized deals that could be traded away for improvements. They have an enticing young prospect in Dalton Knecht and draft picks that can be traded.
If Dorian Finney-Smith, who opted out of his contract on Sunday as well, returns, the team will have the taxpayer mid-level exception. If he leaves, it opens up the full mid-level exception.
Either way, that’s lots of avenues the team can navigate down. At the same time, how much pressure is really on the Lakers? If things come to a head and LeBron wants to be traded, what does that look like?
Cleveland would be the obvious guess, but they are well over the second apron and would need to do a salary dump trade just to be able to aggregate contracts in a deal, which would be a requirement to acquire LeBron. Is it worth blowing up your team for a 1-2 year window of contention with an aging LeBron?
Miami is in a far worse spot than the Lakers, so that doesn’t make sense. Golden State committed its future to Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler and a sign-and-trade with Jonathan Kuminga would be extremely hard to pull off.
Oklahoma City might be in the best spot, but would they blow up what they have to trade for LeBron? And would LeBron really go to Oklahoma City? Houston is in a good position to pair someone with Kevin Durant, but are they eyeing a bigger fish in Giannis Antetokounmpo?
Madison Square Garden is one of LeBron’s favorite arenas to play in, but the Knicks don’t even have a head coach right now. The Timberwolves just committed lots of money to their current front court, making most of them ineligible to be traded either. Denver is in cap hell without any real assets.
It’s basically impossible to envision a scenario where LeBron goes across town to the Clippers and angers Lakers fans. The only tradeable contracts the Sixers have to feasibly match LeBron’s salary are Paul George and Joel Embiid and no thanks on that.
LeBron’s no-trade clause means he gets to pick the teams the Lakers negotiate with, but it doesn’t mean the Lakers have to agree to a trade with them.
Having said all that, is Pelinka brave enough to call LeBron’s bluff? That is the extreme response to the situation where the most likely one is somewhere in the middle.
The Lakers clearly want a center for the long term, as evidenced by their initial trade for Mark Williams. Having a center elevates the Lakers into contender status, which is what LeBron wants.
There is an easy solution to this situation that placates everyone involved. But the fact LeBron felt it necessary to use his leverage heading into this offseason certainly is worth raising an eyebrow over.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at@JacobRude.