Speculations still revolve around LeBron James’ future with the Lakers despite him exercising his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season. Some insiders believe James might request a trade from the Lakers soon in the aftermath of his agent Rich Paul saying James wants to win an NBA championship, and he knows they are rebuilding around Doncic now.
Following this bombshell news and multiple speculations, Bill Simmons went on his podcast to propose a wild three-team trade to Ryen Russillo that eventually sent James back to the Cavaliers with his son Bronny and Darius Garland to the Jazz. Their conversation went something like this.
Simmons: “LeBron and his son go to Cleveland.”
Russillo: “What if his son says no?”
Simmons: “Does he have a trade veto? [chuckles] Utah gets Darius Garland and Rui Hachimura. The Lakers get Walker Kessler, Lonzo Ball, Jordan Clarkson, and John Collins. Utah has to throw a pick or two, has to sprinkle some picks around, because ultimately they’re getting Darius Garland. I just am on the record, I don’t think Cleveland should trade Darius Garland. But I’m just saying I wonder if those types of deals are being talked about.”
“The whole reason I’m talking about this is, now that he [James] has opted in, for any other outcome than he’s just on the team, doing the ‘I don’t know, we’ll see what they do, I’m monitoring it. It’s like ‘okay, glad you’re monitoring it, we’re not gonna be able to get a center, do you want us to trade two unprotected first-rounders for Walker Kessler?’
“The Lakers have Luka Doncic now, why are they doing that? They’re in Luka mode for the next ten years, like, how do we build around Luka? So it’s really awkward, and I’m surprised it’s not a bigger story. I think this is pretty strange.”
Even at age 40-41 through last season, James averaged 24.5 points, 8.0 assists, and 7.9 rebounds in the 2024-25 regular season and playoffs combined. Those are still All-NBA caliber numbers for any player today.
Thus, if the Cavaliers do decide to trade Garland, this could be the perfect close to James’ career. One final shot at an NBA championship with his native team and a deep enough roster that he wouldn’t have to carry single-handedly like his second stint with the Cavaliers (2014-2018).
The main question that now remains is whether James will wait in LA for what could be his final season. Or will he request a trade for the first time in his career? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
