After signing Austin Reaves to a four-year, $185 million maximum contract extension on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Lakers' will now have their sights on addressing LeBron James' future amid strong free agency interest from the Golden State Warriors.
The Lakers may be playing right into the Warriors' hands with recent rumors of their willingness to actually let go of the superstar forward in a sign-and-trade, specifically to the Cleveland Cavaliers for starting center Jarrett Allen.
Lakers are playing right into Warriors' hands with LeBron trade rumors
ESPN's Brian Windhorst mentioned the idea on Wednesday during an appearance on Cleveland radio, suggesting the Lakers "would do that deal in 17 tenths of a second."
"There is a thought process out there in Los Angeles, and I think if the Cavs were interested in this, the Lakers would sit up in attention right now, that they would sign-and-trade LeBron for Jarrett Allen," Windhorst said.
"I think if the Cavs were willing to do that, they could have LeBron, obviously LeBron would have to want to sign with the Cavs," - @WindhorstESPN says the Lakers would KILL to get Jarrett Allen in a trade for LeBron. pic.twitter.com/WiFmIABUiE
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) June 24, 2026
Now it would be one thing for Los Angeles to try and initially low-ball James with a contract offer, perhaps hoping the 4x MVP would accept something around half of Reaves' new $46.2 million average salary. But it would be something different entirely to go to James proposing sign-and-trades.
The idea of a team wanting to move on from James would be completely foreign to him, potentially risking some irritation on his side that could make him more open to taking matters into his own hands and signing elsewhere in free agency, most likely with the Warriors.
Even though this wouldn't be a trade in the traditional sense, it would still classify as the first time James has been traded during his legendary NBA career. Given he's only got one or perhaps two seasons left, he might not be too eager to break the fact he's never been traded.
Warriors still likely to pursue LeBron James in free agency
Golden State drafted a player dubbed the "Dominican LeBron" in Yaxel Lendeborg with the 11th overall pick in the first round of Tuesday's NBA Draft, but that's not likely to prevent them from pursuing James should he make it to free agency at the end of the month.
If anything, taking the 23-year-old Lendeborg is a sign that the Warriors are prioritizing the Stephen Curry era, and are loading up for one more potential run which could extend to signing the 41-year-old James.
They first need James to consider playing outside Los Angeles, and these rumors of a sign-and-trade could be just the catalyst to making him think even more seriously about departing the Lakers.
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