LeBron James and the Lakers are getting ready for the playoff series against the Nuggets. It’s a big challenge because Denver beat the Lakers in the playoffs last year. But the Lakers are supposed to be a strong team. Coach Darvin Ham said they never planned to avoid tough teams on the way to the Finals.
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But the Lakers being the seventh seed for the second time in a row makes some people worry about the future in L.A. Some people think they should break things down and rebuild the team by getting new players and saving money, especially since not many teams have much money to spend on new players. But it doesn’t seem like that’s the plan.
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Especially not with LeBron James. People expect him to choose not to continue his current contract and become a free agent. “I think that’s for sure going to happen,” one person from a Western Conference team said. “I think he will choose not to continue, and he will want the best deal they can give him (a three-year, $162 million contract), and they will also have to agree not to trade him.”
LeBron James: Deserves No-Trade Clause
If the Lakers give LeBron James a new contract and agree not to trade him, it means they’re letting him control what happens with the team for the next three years. They might not have a choice if they want to keep LeBron happy and keep him playing for them.
LeBron James is 39 years old, so there’s a risk in giving him a long contract. But he’s been playing really well, with an average of 25.7 points per game, shooting 54.0% from the field and 41.0% from 3-point range (the best in his career). He also gets 7.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game.
The Lakers won’t find anyone else who can play as well as LeBron James, no matter how old they are. So they have to pay him a lot of money to keep him.
And they won’t have a problem giving him the no-trade clause. He already has it, in a way.
“You don’t trade LeBron James unless you know he wants it,” the person from the Western Conference team said. “He’s not just any player. He’s LeBron James. He deserves it. So if the Lakers were going to trade him, they would always ask him first and make sure he agrees. So giving him a no-trade clause just makes it official.”
Likely to Get No-Trade Clause
LeBron James Doesn’t Take The Three-Year Contract From The Lakers
It was the same with Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards, who is the only player in the league with a no-trade clause. He agreed to waive the clause so he could be traded to the Suns, but the Wizards needed his permission to make the trade.
Earlier this month, Brian Windhorst from ESPN said on a podcast that even if LeBron James doesn’t take the three-year contract from the Lakers, he will still want the no-trade clause.
“I think LeBron’s going to choose not to continue no matter what,” Windhorst said. “And the reason I think he’s going to choose not to continue no matter what is even if he just signs back for one year, the only way for LeBron to get a no-trade clause is to sign a new contract. … And I think for a few different reasons, LeBron would like to ask for and probably get a no-trade clause.
“There might be some discussion between him and the Lakers about whether he should get three years, whether the third year would be a team choice or a player choice or not guaranteed or something else.”
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