Despite his team standing pat at the trade deadline this season, LeBron James was doing everything he could to get the Lakers an upgrade to their roster. According to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, Sam Amick, and Anthony Slater, Trae Young and Dejounte Murray of the Hawks were at the top of LeBron’s wishlist and he’s been advocating for them to become Lakers all season long.
“James was also in support of the Lakers trading for Dejounte Murray or Zach LaVine — two Klutch Sports clients — in the weeks and months leading into the 2024 trade deadline, according to those sources.”
At 39 years old, LeBron James doesn’t have time to be patient and the latest intel out of Los Angeles indicates that he’s been putting more pressure than ever for the Lakers to make a move. This year, for whatever reason, the Lakers decided not to do anything at all despite being involved in a number of conversations.
At one point, both Dejounte Muray and Trae Young were involved in trade rumors and both were considered high-priority targets for the Purple and Gold. As premier backcourt guards, Murray and/or Young would been a major boost this season in Los Angeles. Young, in particular, would have sparked a new offense for this Lakers team, but it seems they would rather hold their cards and wait for an opportunity to go star-hunting in the summer.
Now, in the aftermath of the deadline, the front office strategy has raised some serious questions about whether their long-term plans are truly in alignment with LeBron’s. Thanks to a player option next season, James has the ultimate control over his destiny and he could the Lakers behind if he feels they’ve lost sight of the mission.
This season, there was some serious noise on a potential LeBron James trade and even Rich Paul had to come out and deny that the King was headed to another team. Even so, several teams have already tried to lure James away and it seems more possible than ever that he might consider a change of scenery one last time.
In the West, we just recently found out that the Warriors tried to pair LeBron with Stephen Curry before the idea was shut down by the Lakers and LeBron’s camp. In the East, the Cavaliers look like a prime candidate for James given their history and position near the top of the standings.
Wherever LeBron goes next will likely have a lot to do with his son, Bronny, who is months away from becoming draft-eligible. Depending on where Bronny goes in the draft, LeBron could very well follow him on a one or even multi-year deal.
This summer, the Lakers have considered drafting Bronny themselves just to keep LeBron happy, but it’s clearly going to take more than that to keep him around for the long haul. Unless the Lakers can build him a championship-level team, there’s really no reason for LeBron to come back at all unless it’s for family or for a chance to compete for a title and add to his GOAT case.
