LeBron James, Lakers Have Not Talked About A Trade

James’ agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group, issued the following statement to Shams Charania of ESPN after James picked up his 2025-26 player option: 

“LeBron wants to compete for a championship. He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we’ve had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.

“We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what’s best for him.”

The Lakers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of this year’s playoffs in five games. James averaged 25.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.8 blocks in the five-game series. He suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee in Game 5.

James is the oldest active player in the NBA. He averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.6 blocks for the Lakers last season in 70 games. 

After playing for the Cavaliers from 2014-15 to 2017-18, James signed with the Lakers in the summer of 2018 as an unrestricted free agent. 

Los Angeles missed the playoffs in 2019, won the championship in 2020, lost in the first round of the 2021 playoffs, missed the playoffs in 2022, lost in the conference finals in 2023 and lost in the first round of the 2024 and 2025 playoffs.