This is going to be a very important summer for the Los Angeles Lakers as the team looks to rebound from the most disappointing season in franchise history and re-enter the title picture that they were just in not that long ago.
For many, the one-way ticket to getting back into the title picture is trading Russell Westbrook, who was the root of a lot of problems for the team last season. Whether it was his unwillingness to change his style of play to fit next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, or his massive contract that restricted the team, the Lakers would have been a better team without Westbrook.
The problem is that a Westbrook trade is easier said than done and it is far from being a guarantee this offseason. If the Lakers cannot trade Westbrook then the front office is going to have to scramble, and adding to that scramble is the possibility of LeBron not signing a contract extension.
LeBron is entering the last year of his contract with the Lakers and he can sign a two-year deal worth just under $100 million that would cement him in LA until his son is potentially in the league. However, there is speculation that LeBron would rather take the year-to-year approach that he took in Cleveland.
This should be a red flag for the Lakers, but it doesn’t appear to be. Sam Amick of The Athletic reported that Jeanie Buss would not see LeBron’s desire to play out the final year of his contract as a reason to trade him.
Jeanie Buss is wrong.
The Los Angeles Lakers should absolutely trade LeBron James if he does not sign an extension.
We have seen exactly where this road leads when LeBron plays this game with the team he is on. He did the exact same thing with the Cleveland Cavaliers and used that leverage to force the team to make some questionable moves that hurt the immediate future of the team. With the Lakers’ future already looking bleak, the last thing LA needs is to turn over leverage to LeBron and trade away the few future assets they do have.
This is especially true if the Lakers cannot trade Russell Westbrook. If Westbrook is still a Laker and there are concerns of LeBron bouncing after the 2022-23 season then why wouldn’t the Lakers trade LeBron? There will absolutely be a team that pays a pretty penny to get the face of the league and in the long-term picture, this would be the best move the team could make.
If the Lakers end up trading Westbrook and can convince a team like Charlotte to trade someone like Gordon Hayward for him that would be one thing. At that point, the Lakers could actually make a run for the NBA Finals so it is worth keeping LeBron around.
But if the Lakers are just trotting out the same team as last year then it would be absurd to not move LeBron James to the highest bidder. It is extremely hard for a front office to talk itself into trading the second-best player of all time but it would be better in the long run.