Lakers Rumors: LeBron James might demand a trade if team does not improve

Recent Lakers rumors are that LeBron James might demand a trade if the Lakers whiff on a landing a star this offseason.

With the wild NBA summer quickly approaching, there are a lot of Lakers rumors that will be coming out about the NBA Draft and free agency.

Despite being very dysfunctional the past few months, the Lakers are in a very position to improve a lot this offseason. With a Top 5 pick and the cap space necessary to sign a max level free agent, the Lakers should be a much better team next season.

However, due to the dysfunction that we have seen over the past few months, there is no guarantee that the Lakers will be able to land a superstar to play with James. According to Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, James might demand a trade if the Lakers completely whiff on landing another star this summer. Here’s what he had to say on ESPN LA via Dan Feldman of Pro Basketball Talk.

"“I’m hearing that, if they whiff on free agency, and if they whiff on a trade—which I don’t know how likely that is, but if that happens, they’ve got big trouble with LeBron. Why would LeBron—I mean, the LeBron era could be over before it starts here.“I heard this for the first time yesterday. Somebody very connected said, ‘You know what, if they whiff, LeBron’s going to say either, ‘I’m out of here,’ or ‘Get me out of here,’ or the Lakers better just might as well just get him out of here.”"

When James came to Los Angeles last summer, we knew that the Lakers were not ready to be title contenders in year one. After missing out on signing Paul George or trading for Kawhi Leonard, we knew that the Lakers were going to be limited in terms of how far they go.

However, James seemed to understand that it wasn’t going to be a one-year fix for the Lakers. Now, this is a very important offseason for Los Angeles. They have a new coach in Frank Vogel, and they still have the cap space necessary to land a superstar. Also, the potential for them to make a trade for a star is still there with their young and valuable assets.

As James’ career begins to wind down, he would certainly likely to play on a team that has a chance to win. Last season, the Lakers should have made the playoffs if not for the injuries, however, they never had much of a chance to compete with the Golden State Warriors.

With all of the dysfunction of late, if the Lakers whiff on getting another star this summer, it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise if James wanted out. Hopefully, this will be a moot point and the Lakers will be able to get a second star to pair with James.