The Lakers’ top priority this offseason is bringing back LeBron James.
They want LeBron to return on the terms he wants, which is something ESPN’s Dave McMenamin explained on the Rich Eisen show this week. (Los Angeles can offer LeBron up to three years and $164 million; no team can offer more than three years due to the over-38 rule.)
“The Lakers intend to have LeBron James return on whatever terms he wants, whether it’s a one-year deal, two years, three years, whatever. They would love to continue having LeBron James in the purple and gold until to leave it, whenever that may be.”
That’s a basketball decision: He was the Lakers’ best player, their primary shot creator, and is still playing at an All-NBA level in his age-39 season. More than that, he was the barometer of team energy: When LeBron turned on his engines for part or all of a game, the level of play of everyone else on the team rose with him.
This is also a business decision: LeBron helps fill the seats at Crypto.com Arena, sells sponsorships, attracts television audiences, and remains the biggest player brand in the sport. Regardless of what the Lakers pay LeBron, he is worth it for the money he generates for the club.
If one of the conditions for LeBron’s return is to recruit his son Bronny James, the Lakers are open to it, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The Lakers wouldn’t use their 17th first-round pick on Bronny — that would be too high for a player who scouts told NBC Sports has potential but isn’t yet NBA-ready and would need years of development (the Lakers want to trade that choice for a player who can help now). The Lakers also have a 55th pick and could move for another second-round pick.
Is that what’s best for Bronny and what he wants? Those are the real questions he and his family/representatives need to answer. He could spend time developing with an NBA team (i.e. games in the G-League), or he could use the transfer portal to go to another school and grow his game there with more running, and perhaps more in his traditional role of point guard. I couldn’t play at USC next year.
The bottom line here is that if LeBron really wants this to happen, the Lakers will move heaven and earth to make it happen and keep him in the fold. That’s why Tyronn Lue’s name keeps coming up in Lakers coaching search discussions when he’s still under contract with the Clippers: That’s LeBron’s man. (If you think Steve Ballmer and the Clippers are going to let Lue opt out of his contract so he can coach their cross-town rivals, you’re probably thinking birds are not real neither.) LeBron won’t be involved in this coaching search, but you can be sure the Lakers wouldn’t.
Hire anyone you’ve given the go-ahead to.
Historically, LeBron has used this advantage of free agency to make the changes he wanted to see in an organization, and while he may not intervene more now than in the past, the Lakers are well aware that they must try to make him happy.