With the NBA’s trade deadline less than 72 hours away, some Los Angeles Lakers fans are wondering if LeBron James could be on the move soon. A trade involving him before Thursday’s deadline seems very unlikely, but, of course, he could leave the team this summer when he becomes a free agent.
For months, there has been a lot of talk about his future and even whether the Lakers could be ready to move on from him. During a livestream on Monday, NBA insider Jake Fischer said that both sides are ready to move on.
“Definitively, the Lakers are ready to move on from LeBron James and I think LeBron James is ready to move on from the Lakers as well. That’s kind of the foregone sentiment in Los Angeles right now about what’s to come this summer.”
There are undoubtedly many Lakers fans who would love for the team to bid James adieu this summer. He’s in his eighth season with the Purple and Gold, and while he brought them an NBA championship in 2020, many consider his time with the team to be an overall disappointment.
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The Lakers are currently 29-19 and clinging to sixth place in the Western Conference, even though Luka Doncic, their new centerpiece, is having one of his best seasons yet. Given their lack of tradable assets and the constraints of the league’s restrictive hard salary cap, perhaps letting go of James is the only way for the Lakers to return to their former championship glory sooner rather than later.
On the other hand, there could also be a scenario in which keeping James on a team-friendly contract for one or even two more years could be the best path to another world title.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Fischer: Lakers, LeBron James are ‘ready to move on’ from each other
