imo, LBJ will wait until all the top FAs are signed; then he will pick one of the east coast team that has the best chance of going to the Finals. on second thought, it'd be NY, cos his family (after living in LA for ~ 10 year) would not enjoy living in the Detroit area
Guys, he's returning to the Lakers, probably on a two-year deal with a player option. This will sound crazy, but in the extremely unlikely event LeBron leaves the Lakers, my 1% team is the Warriors.
[Windborst] He noted that James and his camp want the Lakers to make a contract offer, and if it is for anything less than the maximum, they want the Lakers to explain why and what other players they are going to target with the money that is saved. Windhorst suggested that a sign-and-trade would represent the best chance for James to make significant earnings while also moving on to a different team.
Lebrun has been a great player but I dislike him immensely. I don’t care where he takes his talents to… f that guy
LeBron is as gaslit by the media as his fans are. In reality, the Lakers were at their best when he was a role player. Role players don't get max offers. His successful time as a #1 option was against a fractured team. Against OKC he was far from bueno. But everyone told him he is capable of being a high-impact player again. He believed it, so, you get the post-sweep press conference in which he complained about being a third-option even though that was by far the best version of the Lakers. Total delusion. I hope the Lakers are as gaslit as everyone else. Give him the max. Let him destroy the team trying to play the first-option. We need as many teams eliminated from contention as possible.
this is no longer the Buss family's Lakers team, which somehow won ~~ 9 rings, effectively, w no anlytics dept, the deep-pocket Guggenheimer group purchased the Lakers ~~ 2 yrs ago; they're just beginning to "Dodger-ize" the Lakers Basketball Ops, they're already hired (VP Baskbetbal OPs) Pelinka's 2nd in command
The Lakers didn't need analytics to acquire Wilt, Kareem, Magic, Shaq, Kobe (Gasol), LeBron (Davis), and Luka. The NBA is on their side. It's true that the Lakers are undergoing changes that will make them run like a cold, calculating machine, but there are other factors when LeBron is concerned. They can't just cut ties with him. There will be drama.
