To the person reading this at home: I want you to search your memory and flash back to earlier in the 2025-26 season for the Los Angeles Lakers. Explore your recollection for how LeBron James was being discussed before the March portion of the campaign.
A lot of the talk surrounded how Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and LeBron did not fit together. The small sample size was ignored. There was a clear problem and an allegedly simple solution to it all. The latter involved just dumping James and using the cap space that would be created from that move elsewhere in the offseason.
Skip ahead to today and things are not so easy for Rob Pelinka. Not only did the Lakers trio prove they can reliable function together, but they created plenty of hope for championship upside. Suddenly, the Lakers are trying to figure out how to keep the trio together and still improve the pieces around them.
Dan Woike and Sam Amick of The Athletic wrote: "Team sources still believe there are avenues for the roster to improve substantially if the Lakers retain both James and Reaves this summer, no matter how narrow those pathways might appear."
Lakers cannot confidently believe they are better without LeBron James anymore
At bare minimum, James proved himself to be the greatest insurance policy that the Lakers could ask for in the 2026 NBA Playoffs. When Doncic went down, James assumed the lead of Los Angeles, stabilized the team, and guided them to a first-round upset over the Houston Rockets.
Before that unfortunate injury luck, LeBron showed he can comfortably settle in as the third option behind Doncic and Reaves, offering elite production from that role. Now, with James' future up in the air, the Lakers are making it quite clear they want him back.
Why would they not?
LeBron laughed at the idea that any team would be better off without him back in March. The all-time great was more than justified in doing so.
After the Lakers proved that Doncic, James, and Reaves work as a trio, the approach has shifted in Los Angeles. Pelinka can no longer head into this offseason with the idea that a couple of role players are going to be an upgrade over what LeBron brings to the table.
Suddenly, everyone is itching to see the Lakers trio get one more shot together to remove the what-if that Doncic's injury created after this playoff run. If Pelinka does find a way to upgrade the roster while keeping all three stars, as the rumor above suggested, LA fans could be staring at a real title threat in their city during 2026-27.
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