Colin Cowherd Makes The Case For Lakers Trading LeBron James

The Los Angeles Lakers got LeBron James on the very first day of his free agency. He left the Cleveland Cavaliers to become a Laker. In his first season with the Lakers, LeBron sustained a terrible groin injury. He missed significant time and the team was way outside the playoff picture. Things got a lot better in Year 2, and the Lakers won a championship. Year 3 wasn’t that successful and the Lakers ended up in the play-in tournament. It was a sealed deal. The Lakers struggle to make an impact again. Will the Lakers front office consider trading LeBron at this point?

The Athletic’s Bill Oram reported that LeBron and Rich Paul are “beginning to really squeeze.” Things got really messy, huh? Well, Paul did admit that there isn’t a cold war between the Lakers and his agency. So, how will the whole thing end?

Will Lakers have trouble trading LeBron?

Colin Cowherd from Fox Sports discussed the situation and LeBron’s role in Los Angeles. He mentioned words like “trade” for the first time since LeBron’s arrival in LA.

“I would prefer the Lakers keep LeBron, trade AD, blow it up this offseason,” Cowherd said on The Herd. “But so what if you have to trade him [LeBron]. LA has a history – we just get the next guy. Kareem, Wilt, Shaq, LeBron. It’s what the city does.”

The Lakers can trade LeBron this offseason and that's OK.

"They have a history. They just get the next guy. Kareem, Wilt, Shaq. It's what the city does." — @ColinCowherd pic.twitter.com/d2FFYXRzmr

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) February 23, 2022

The Lakers shouldn’t be too frustrated at this point. Cowherd further discussed the potential move.

“This isn’t Cleveland. The Lakers shouldn’t be desperate. The greatest leverage you can have in negotiation: no fear. The bottom line is LeBron is someone I’d rather keep. LeBron wants to stay here. There’s an argument to be made that LeBron needs LA as badly as LA needs LeBron.”

This is a rather shocking report, but the Lakers will have to play smart at this point. Rob Pelinka will take several factors into consideration. LeBron won’t stay around forever. That will probably be the leading point in Pelinka’s future plans. Let’s see how will his team finish this season. That’s a priority right now…