It’s no secret that the Los Angeles Lakers have struggled this season, currently sitting at 25-25, which has frustrated LeBron James and others in the organization.
The Lakers came into the season with championship aspirations and thus far have fallen short, perhaps needing significant moves at the trade deadline in order to get back into contention.
Frustrations have boiled over in recent weeks, most notably on the current road trip when the Lakers were blown out on back-to-back nights by the Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks.
After the second loss, James took to social media to send out a cryptic tweet of an hourglass emoji with the time running out. The speculation of what the tweet meant naturally began immediately, with people wondering if he was saying time is running out on the Lakers’ season, time is running out for them to make a trade or time is running out on his tenure with the team given their struggles.
James has not yet spoken to the media to clarify, but there were some reports floating around that he was requesting a trade before the Feb. 8 deadline.
LeBron has never been traded in his career though and that isn’t gonna change now as James’ agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports went on record saying that his client will not be traded, via Brian Windhorst of ESPN:
“LeBron won’t be traded, and we aren’t asking to be,” Paul said in reaction to some growing speculation about James’ future ahead of next week’s trade deadline.
James has made it clear time and time again that he has enjoyed his time with the Lakers and with his family living in L.A., a trade right now wouldn’t make much sense, even given the team’s struggles.
LeBron has a player option of around $50 million for next season that he can decline over the summer if he wants to pursue opportunities elsewhere to finish out his career, whether that be chasing another championship or playing with his son Bronny as he has wanted to for years now.
That puts pressure on the Lakers front office to put a team good enough around him to get back into contention before the deadline, although everyone is on the same page about competing for championships in the organization so that pressure was there regardless.
While there is speculation and rumors everywhere you look this time of the year, it is good to see Paul and James get in front of this non-story so it doesn’t become an unneeded distraction in the locker room. James and the organization will need to be on the same page in order for the team to get back on track, and it appears that they are, at least for now.
LeBron James stresses need for Lakers to communicate better
Despite the struggles the Lakers have had this season, there’s no denying the talent they have on the roster as they are less than a year removed from a run to the Western Conference Finals.
In order to improve moving forward, LeBron James discussed the need for better communication on the floor, particularly on the defensive end.
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