East Contender Feelings Toward Getting Lakers’ LeBron James Discussed

The Los Angeles Lakers are pretty sure that their leader won’t leave the team in the near future. NBA teams would gladly snatch the king of basketball, but an East Contender discussed the idea of getting LeBron James. Will the four-time NBA champion finish his career as a player somewhere else?

King James will become an unrestricted free agent in 2023. Of course, the Lakers can still give him a contract extension and secure his future with the team. LeBron told Jason Lloyd from The Athletic that he could always join the Cleveland Cavaliers. Well, Joe Vardon of The Athletic wouldn’t agree with him on this one. According to him, the Cavaliers “are not proceeding with the intention of getting LeBron for a third time.”

“OK, I have tied myself up in knots enough over this. The Cavs are not proceeding with the intention of getting LeBron for a third time,” Vardon wrote. “As a northeast Ohio native who didn’t move when LeBron left for L.A., I am not planning on him coming back, for the reasons stated above.”

The East Contender may not even get a chance to think of signing LeBron James

Jeanie Buss has nothing but respect for her superstar. She brought LeBron to LA for a reason. Hopefully, he won’t leave the team on thin ice. The Lakers have to give LeBron some help this time. Rob Pelinka selected a bunch of veterans last offseason, but it didn’t work. LeBron is happy with his role in LA and the franchise should keep him happy.

“Sources briefed on the matter stress that James is extremely happy in Los Angeles despite the Lakers’ back-to-back rocky seasons,” Stein reported. “He and his family, by all accounts, have grown increasingly entrenched in Southern California since James signed with the Lakers in the summer of 2018.

“James basically has three options. He can play out his current contract at $44.5 million and become a free agent after his 20th NBA season. Or he can sign a one-year extension worth $46.7 million … or a two-year maximum extension worth $97.1 million (and presumably containing a player option for Year 2). James, remember, turns 38 on Dec. 30. The league’s Over-38 rule, explained in much more thorough detail here via Keith Smith’s Spotrac coverage, prevents him from signing anything longer than a two-year extension.”