Superstar forward LeBron James has no intention to seek a trade from the Lakers, reports ESPN’s Brain Windhorst.
On the December 11 episode of “Get Up” on ESPN, Windhorst threw cold water on the buzz of James potentially wanting a trade from the Lakers.
“It’s up to him. He has a no-trade clause, and he has given no indication to the Lakers other than to upgrade the roster they’ve got, not that he wants to go anywhere,” Windhorst said of James.
When pressed again if James could seek a move to the Warriors if the Lakers were unable to upgrade the roster, Windhorst said, “LeBron’s actions — at least year’s trade deadline, he rejected a move to the Warriors. Last summer, he sat there and offered to take less money from the Lakers if they could find someone in free agency. They didn’t. But he still signed a new contract with a no-trade clause anyway.”
“All those actions make it very clear he wants to be a Lakers,” Windhorst continued. “That said, we have two months until the trade deadline [February 6, 2025]. If he changes his mind, I promise you it’ll be made public and we’ll all know.”
Windhorst has covered James since the latter’s high school career.
LeBron James Trade Unrealistic?
Earlier, ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins dropped a bombshell on the December 10 episode of ESPN’s First Take, reporting that the Lakers would “entertain” the idea of trading James if the two sides chose to part ways ahead of the February 6 deadline.
“My sources tell me that if LeBron James at any point comes out and says that he wants to be traded or he wants to entertain it, they’re going to entertain it,” Perkins said. “It ain’t no holding him back.”
“Last year, Rick Paul stopped it [a trade to the Warriors]… When Golden State called asking about LeBron, Rich Paul, his agent, silenced all that. But if LeBron and Lakers get to this conversation again, I’m hearing Rich Paul ain’t getting in the way.”
Will Warriors Pursue James Again?
As is well documented, the Warriors made a last-second push to acquire James ahead of the 2024 trade deadline, only to be rebuffed by James’ agent Rich Paul.
According to Windhorst, the Warriors still have aspirations of pairing up James with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
“The Warriors have been really active in trying to add a star player,” Windhorst said on December 11. “They kicked the tires on a couple of other stars over the summer, and if Jimmy Butler is available, and the Warriors feel like they can upgrade, that could be. But, who else is on their list? That’s LeBron James.”
“It’s a delicious scenario to think about. The Warriors have dreamed of pairing LeBron with Steph Curry and Draymond Green since last year. They’ve made an inquiry and it got shut down, but that was before LeBron played with Curry and Steve Kerr and won the gold medal [at the 2024 Paris Olympics] over the summer. So, they will definitely monitor the situation again.”
