Lakers may make bold LeBron James move before the GOAT acts

No team that has previously housed LeBron James had surely ever looked at him as anything but a franchise player, a key to their success, and an enormous gift on their roster. In 2025, the Los Angeles Lakers may be changing that by boldly pursuing a relocation for James while under contract.

Brian Windhorst appeared on ESPN yesterday to deliver a shocking sentiment about how James is reportedly being viewed behind closed doors. According to the NBA insider, a 40-year-old GOAT leans much more heavily into the first half of that descriptor.

Windhorst said, "My conversations over the last three days have crystallized that the Lakers are essentially viewing LeBron as an expiring contract. ... I'm not sure what happened, but the Lakers and LeBron did not have substantive discussions about extending his contract."

The thing with 'expiring contracts' is they tend to get traded. That possibility is starting to look less and less absurd by the day. Would the Lakers want to beat James to the punch of him potentially asking out of Los Angeles? If so, they have to navigate the situation very carefully.

James' no-trade clause brings difficulty to any attempted trade maneuver by Lakers

James belongs to many exclusive clubs. One of those involves being one of the few players throughout the NBA's long history to have a no-trade clause. Granted, the exclusivity is a bit debatable here considering Bradley Beal is also among the group.

Regardless of that latter fact, even if the Lakers have the intent of wanting to move the four-time NBA champion during the summer of 2025, they must do so with James in mind. Any lackluster destination can quickly get nixed by the all-time great and damage their relationship.

That does not necessarily mean they have to work together with him, although that would make it a lot easier. They just have to work with trade partners whom James would be likely to approve of. If they are not jointly orchestrating this, they still need his blessing in the end.

A couple of potential destinations stand out as obvious landing spots for the four-time NBA Finals MVP. A return home to Cleveland feels like a storybook ending that would get approved of. Perhaps even trading one big market for another would suit James, going from Los Angeles to New York.

Whether a split is coming between the Lakers and James is still highly debatable, and perhaps even a touch overexaggerated. However, this is certainly the likeliest that possibility has felt during LeBron's time in Los Angeles.