As the biggest basketball star on the planet, LeBron James is ridiculously valuable. Even at almost 40 years old, he continues to play at an elite level and continues to show why he is still considered one of the game’s best players today.
For the Lakers especially, LeBron’s impact has been huge. Since his arrival, he transformed the franchise from a fumbling mess into a team with title aspirations overnight.
Considering all of those things, it would seem crazy to think the Lakers would ever consider trading LeBron James. But for a certain prospect from France, one NBA executive says even James is on the table.
NBA Executive Reveals Why He Would Consider Trading LeBron James For Victor Wembanyama
In a recent article for The Athletic, league insider David Aldridge asked around for some intel on Wemby, and got a feel for what his value is around the league. Apparently, there are only a handful of players that teams wouldn’t trade for the young prospect, and that list does not include LeBron James.
Who wouldn’t I trade? You have Durant. You have Giannis. I can’t put (James) in that conversation, just because of his age. Curry. Jokic. And Embiid. I would say organizationally, you have to have that conversation. I’m not saying I would do it. But I think those five push that question.
Another GM said that only players with extreme emotional attachments to their teams would be safe, like Kobe Bryant and the Lakers if he was still playing today.
I think there’s only some situations where there’s an emotional attachment. Like, if Kobe was still playing for the Lakers, (there may be) some iconic players you wouldn’t move. But, if you’re saying a young guy? I’d say the one guy that people would have to look at is Evan Mobley. Here comes Cleveland; they have a nice, young team. If (the team that gets No. 1) said, ‘Hey, give me Evan and Donovan Mitchell.’ Would (Cleveland) do it? That’s kind of interesting to think about. Because Evan’s special too. He’s just not like a comic book character.
Wembanyama might be the greatest NBA prospect ever. As a 7-footer who can shoot and move like a guard, he is expected to drastically shift the balance of power in the NBA.
A guy like that doesn’t come around often, and teams must take advantage of this opportunity while they still can.
