LeBron James is ready for a 23rd season, but the NBA's team-building rules have changed. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
It’s strange to ponder an NBA that doesn’t cater to LeBron James. Since 2003, when he arrived at the draft wearing that white suit, he has been a focal point. The question “What does LeBron want?” has dominated the plans of his many teams and the interest of the entire league. It once seemed his basketball career wouldn’t end before a mad scramble to buy him the perfect retirement gift.
Well, now he’s 40. He’s still really good, all-NBA-second-team good, but ever since the mind-blowing trade for Luka Doncic in February, the Los Angeles Lakers have been planning for a future with their new 26-year-old superstar as the center of their universe. For the first time, King James is King Complement.
So, as free agency began, James made a simple decision and then added a kind of drama that only he can. He exercised the option in his contract to guarantee his $52.6 million salary for the 2025-26 campaign, which will mark an unprecedented Year 23 for No. 23. But his agent, Rich Paul, released a careful statement after announcing the news. Paul made clear James’s aspirations to pursue a fifth championship, and while appreciating the “partnership” James has had with the Lakers, Paul soft-launched the notion that James could request a trade.
“We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future,” Paul told ESPN. “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.”
Consider it the last NBA power move for a superstar who plays the game and The Game as well as any athlete in history. But his final effort also seems futile, and it has nothing to do with diminishing greatness. His graying game is fine. But The Game — how NBA teams are built and the sway that franchise players hold — has changed dramatically as the league shifts toward parity and away from fiefdoms.
What does LeBron want? For the Lakers to invest in the roster and give themselves a legitimate title shot next season. After the trade for Doncic, they rose to the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference before falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round. They need an above-average rim protector and one or two athletic, defensive-minded rotational pieces. With the salary cap exception resources that Los Angeles has available, it’s a difficult but doable task.
There are layers of complication, however. First, it might force the Lakers into the dreaded second apron of the luxury tax system. Of greater concern is the future with Doncic, and without James, that they are anticipating. The Lakers are motivated to steer clear of long-term commitments and keep their cap sheet clean because, starting next summer, they would have the cap space to add two maximum-salary players to rebuild the team around Doncic. Or they could add one max player and three high-quality role players. Or they could add major salaries through trades. Or they could be meticulous and use the flexibility to build over two offseasons.
When Paul referenced the challenges of winning now and preparing for later, that’s the point he is making for James. It doesn’t take much to make a playoff team out of a roster with James and Doncic at the top, but if L.A. trots out the same perimeter-heavy team next season, it will need major luck to get past the Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets and revamped Houston Rockets.
Those teams are too big and versatile. As currently constructed, there’s no way the Lakers could win three rounds and make the Finals against those frontcourts. Even with the Lakers adding Deandre Ayton as their starting center, they lack a championship-caliber defensive presence in the post.
For once, James doesn’t have extreme demands. He just wants a chance. Fifteen years ago, Pat Riley had to strip down his Miami Heat roster to make room for James and Chris Bosh to join Dwyane Wade. For most of their four seasons together, the Heat kept leveraging its star power to convince high-profile free agents to take cap-friendly deals to play there. When James returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014, they traded for Kevin Love. Dan Gilbert, Cleveland’s owner, kept ignoring the luxury tax to ensure the Cavs remained in title contention. And in his first seven seasons in L.A., the Lakers have built with hopes of maximizing the rest of James’s career.
At every stop, James has mastered how to influence the front office. He has signed shorter contracts to apply pressure. He has used traditional media to send targeted messages. He has dropped hints on social media. His methods worked because he was the biggest basketball star on the planet, and what an embarrassment it would be to lack ambition and waste such a gifted athlete.
This isn’t 2010, when James and the Heatles changed the league. James was 25 then. It’s hard to believe that 15 years passed so quickly, but here we are, in a system that is forcing teams to tiptoe around rather than sprint. There was a time when the possibility of James (who has a no-trade clause in his contract) requesting a trade would inspire an epic bidding war. Paul told ESPN this week that four teams have called to inquire. There has been nothing concrete, just exploratory, mostly due diligence.
And any trade chatter may end there because, with rules designed to curb spending and simulate a hard salary cap, it’s a challenge to make a trade for a player making $52.6 million. Even for teams that could swing it, the short-term thinking could carry significant long-term consequences.
In this NBA, there is little room for anyone to satisfy James’s wishes. During his run of legendary longevity, James has always seemed to be ahead of the times. His vision, on and off the court, has been unrivaled. But The Game has changed so quickly that he might not be able to keep up anymore.
What does LeBron want? What he has always wanted: his way. But that’s the thing about parity. Everyone can win, but everyone will lose. Not even the King can have it all anymore.