Lakers’ LeBron James dilemma only getting more difficult

There was a window for the Lakers to move LeBron James. That window opened the moment they acquired Luka Doncic. It may have closed just as quickly.

The problem was obvious before Doncic and James ever shared the floor. Redundancy on offense. Vulnerability on defense. Too many overlapping needs and not enough resistance at the point of attack. None of that has changed.

Yes, the Lakers are 23-13 and sitting fifth in the West (entering Monday night). That looks respectable until you look underneath. They are the only team in the top eight of either conference with a negative net rating. At minus 0.7, they live statistically closer to the Charlotte Hornets than to a contender.

Their record is propped up by a 13-1 mark in clutch games. That is not nothing. James and Doncic know how to close. But it is also not sustainable, especially in a playoff setting.

The numbers with James, Doncic and Austin Reaves together are blunt. The offense is bottom-tier. The defense is worse. As a trio, they defend at roughly the same level as a nine-win Pelicans team. That is not a typo.

The Lakers have tried to fix it around the edges. Deandre Ayton has not moved the needle defensively. No scheme can cover for a lack of urgency, a point Marcus Smart bluntly acknowledged.

So what now.

Trading James is complicated. His no-trade clause matters. His age matters. His expiring $52.6 million salary matters. What team sees itself as one 41-year-old LeBron away from a title and can still meet the Lakers’ price?

The other option is to commit fully to Doncic and accept what that means. Let James play it out. Let him walk. Or find a mutual off-ramp.

Serving two timelines has not worked. It never was going to. The Lakers have to pick one.