As all eyes remain on LeBron James this offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers star reportedly hasn't requested a trade.
ESPN's Dave McMenamin revealed during the broadcast of Saturday's Summer League game between the Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans that agent Rich Paul said even though four teams contacted him with interest in acquiring the King, there have been no trade requests on his part.
"I've checked in with both the Lakers and LeBron's camp on this one," McMenamin reported. "For the Lakers, it's business as usual. They have motivation to compete at the highest level and maximize not just LeBron's timeline, but they want to compete now with Luka Dončić. Some have said that the true cause of this situation was the Lakers not offering LeBron a contract beyond next season. But Rich Paul told me that they never asked for one. Paul also made it clear to me that LeBron has not asked for a trade. And Paul hasn't even discussed the possibility of wanting a trade in the future with the Lakers.
"Paul did tell me that four teams contacted him with interest in trading for LeBron. So now we wait. The Lakers have a full roster to have a decision to make on Shake Milton's contract by July 20th. They also have three expiring contracts in Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, who's here tonight, and Maxi Kleber, plus their 2031 first-round draft pick they can use in trade scenarios. Now, I asked LeBron just before tip off if he'd like to join the broadcast to discuss everything, and he told me, quote, 'I ain't got nothing to talk about.'"
There was no mention of the specific teams that reached out, although ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst reported Friday the Golden State Warriors "considered" making a trade offer this offseason.
The idea of trading an all-time great might seem shocking on the surface, but James will turn 41 years old in December and will be on the final season of his contract after exercising his $52.6 million player option.
Paul also turned heads earlier this offseason when he told ESPN's Shams Charania that James is monitoring the Lakers' offseason moves and would like to play for a realistic championship contender.
"LeBron wants to compete for a championship," Paul said. "He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. … We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what's best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career."
The Lakers finished with the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference last season, although they were thoroughly outmatched in a five-game first-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. If James doesn't feel like the offseason additions of Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia are enough to close the gap on the league's top teams, he could, in theory, seek a trade to a team better positioned to contend.
While Paul's comments suggest there have been no such requests from the NBA's all-time leading scorer, speculation will continue given the balancing act between James' timeline and the potential one for the team.
A focus on building for the future around the 26-year-old Dončić may not be appealing for the veteran at this stage.
Along those lines, Charania reported during a Friday appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio that James "feels clearly that the Lakers are more in a futuristic mindset" and that some "hard conversations" will "need to happen."
Perhaps one of those "hard conversations" will eventually be a trade request, but that reportedly has not happened to this point.
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