To the surprise of few, LeBron James’ free agency is already off to an odd start this offseason.
A topic already of much debate before free agency has even officially started, how the Lakers and LeBron handled the coming weeks was always going to draw much attention. It turns out, however, the two sides have opted not to handle things at all yet.
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Once the NBA Finals concluded, teams could begin negotiating with their own free agents. The Lakers clearly took advantage of that and reached a deal with Austin Reaves on Wednesday.
However, there has not been the same level of communication with LeBron. After checking in with him once that window opened, the two parties have not spoken since, as Shams Charania of ESPN revealed on NBA Today on Thursday.
“There was a check-in call made, to my understanding, early in free agency once teams were able to start negotiating with their own free agents. Since then, there hasn’t been much communication, from my understanding, between the Lakers and LeBron James’ side and certainly not an offer yet.”
On Friday, Charania reiterated that the Lakers had not yet offered LeBron a contract and that the discussions between the sides has been limited.
Is this odd? Certainly. But does this rule out him returning to the Lakers? Certainly not.
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To be fair to LeBron, he did just spend quite a few days reuniting with the 2016 Cavs team on the 10-year anniversary of their NBA title. Multiple of the former players in attendance, namely Richard Jefferson, chronicled online the days of golfing, cigar-smoking and, surely, wine-drinking that took place. LeBron likely had no interest in talking to the Lakers at that point.
LeBron also made it pretty clear that he was not in much of a rush to make a decision this summer. And if reports are to be believed, he wanted the Lakers to bring to him a plan for the future.
At the same time, LeBron is no longer the Lakers’ top priority. Clearly, retaining Reaves ranked higher on the priority list this summer. Finding a center for the future is a priority. Filling out the rest of the roster is a priority.
There’s also the possibility that the Lakers know LeBron’s options are limited and will call his bluff. Perhaps they’re focused on filling out their roster and are leaving LeBron as the last part of their roster build and will present him a contract option based on what’s left for them.
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It’d be a bold move and not one the Lakers typically make, but clearly this isn’t going to be a normal free agency situation for LeBron. Whatever course either the team or LeBron takes, it will be one of the team’s central focuses in the coming week.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
