LeBron James Delivers Message to Lakers’ Former All-Star Target

LeBron James had a lot of fun in the last few days. He flashed his dominance once again at the Drew League. This was his first appearance since 2011 and LeBron enjoyed every bit of it. His team won, obviously, but something else caught everyone’s attention. LeBron teamed up with a former Lakers target and this was more than enough to sparkle another debate.

LeBron and DeMar DeRozan teamed up and yes, they looked really good together. The powerful duo beat the opposing team and LeBron took to his Twitter account to praise his “teammate”.

“My dog Debo!!! @DeMar_DeRozan ✊?,” LeBron tweeted.

My dog Debo!!! @DeMar_DeRozan ✊? pic.twitter.com/Gc4P34GmUn

— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 17, 2022

They could play on the same team, remember? The Lakers went after DeRozan and the All-Star thought it was a sealed deal. However, Rob Pelinka traded three players and a few picks to get Russell Westbrook. We have a few reasons to believe that DeRozan would’ve been a better fit than Russ.

LeBron was visibly frustrated with Russell’s struggles. Their great bond crumbled to bits and LeBron didn’t even greet his teammate at the Lakers Summer League. He doesn’t feel the same way about DeRozan. The latter would gladly hop on the Lakers roster. On November 16, 2021, DeRozan discussed all the rumors surrounding his potential deal with the Lakers.

“I felt like going to the Lakers was a done deal and that we were going to figure it out,” DeRozan told Chris Haynes from Yahoo Sports. “I was going to come home. The business side of things just didn’t work out. A couple of things didn’t align. It didn’t work out. It’s just part of the business, part of the game. My next option was definitely Chicago. So, looking back at it, it worked out well.”

LeBron wanted to connect the Lakers to their target?

DeRozan did an incredible job in his first season with the Bulls and made the All-Star game. LeBron liked his style and met him on multiple occasions last offseason. It didn’t work.

Bill Oram, Shams Charania, and Sam Amick mentioned these meetings in separate reports.

“One of those potential moves involved DeMar DeRozan, a Compton, Calif., native and former USC star,” Oram, Charania and Amick wrote on September 27, 2021. “He took part in two such meetings at James’ home and had separate ongoing phone conversations with James. His conversations with the Lakers co-stars had gone well, with the then-soon-to-be free agent discussing all the ways in which he thought this new star trio might work.

“With four All-Star Games and a pair of appearances on All-NBA teams to his name, the longtime Toronto Raptor who had spent the previous three seasons with San Antonio, emerged from his meetings with that locker room brain trust believing he was their priority and he might soon be playing in the purple and gold.”