LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
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LeBron James speaks onstage during Fanatics Fest NYC 2025.
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers recently exercised his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season. For James, this was the right idea. He’s still one of the better players in the league, and it isn’t like another team had the money to give him.
However, after James exercised his $52.6 million player option, Rich Paul made some telling comments to ESPN.
He noted that James wants to compete for a championship, and he knows that the Lakers are building for the future. He then added that he’s appreciative of the partnership that they’ve had with Los Angeles, but James and Paul want to ensure that James is getting the best for his buck at this stage of his career, regarding trying to win a championship.
“LeBron wants to compete for a championship,”Paul told ESPN. “He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we’ve had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.
“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, are supportive and want what’s best for him.”
The Blockbuster Trade Idea
Following those comments, some have suggested that James wants to leave the Los Angeles Lakers. If that’s the case, there will be many teams around the league interested. However, one of them makes more sense than any other, and that’s the Golden State Warriors.
If the Warriors were to make a trade for James, it’d have to be very creative. When searching for a potential deal, Kevin O’Connor recently brought one up.
He added that because the Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets trade hasn’t been finalized yet for Kevin Durant, it’s possible that James could be included in a trade involving four teams that would send him to the Warriors. Obviously, this would be a massive deal, but it’s still something interesting to consider.
“If you really want to get crazy… the KD to Houston deal is not done yet… You could add third teams or fourth teams… Phoenix wanted Butler. So maybe you send LeBron and Bronny James to Golden State, Jimmy Butler to Phoenix, Kevin Durant to Houston, and then Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks to the Lakers,”he said.
Are the Warriors Contenders With LeBron?
James has been on record saying multiple times that all he wants to do is win a championship. He added that any season that he and the Los Angeles Lakers don’t win it all is a disappointment.
The Golden State Warriors aren’t exactly in a position to win it all right now, but if they added James, it’s possible that the older crew could get the job done again if everything breaks their way. Nonetheless, they’d have to hope that plenty goes right, and that includes just getting a deal done in the first place.
“Every season that I did not make it to the Finals or did not win the championship has been a disappointment,” James said. “So it’d be the same for me. It’d be the same offseason of disappointment and unfulfillment, having an opportunity to play longer and give yourself an opportunity to play for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Nothing changes for me.”