{"id":609871,"date":"2026-02-18T14:46:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T14:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/609871\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T14:46:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T14:46:25","slug":"lakers-might-want-lebron-james-back-next-season-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/609871\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Might Want Lebron James Back Next Season \u2014 Report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With the NBA offseason heating up, the Los Angeles Lakers are contemplating a monumental move to bring back <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mandatory.com\/news\/1728623-lebron-james-out-of-spurs-game\" id=\"https:\/\/www.mandatory.com\/news\/1728623-lebron-james-out-of-spurs-game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">LeBron James<\/a>. As training camps near, insiders are speculating potential roster moves, with James\u2019 future a key focus. The Lakers\u2019 next steps could reshape their season, as fans await the latest developments.<\/p>\n<p>Lakers reportedly want to have LeBron James on their side next season<\/p>\n<p>In a thrilling turn of events, the Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly open to bringing back LeBron James for another season. The Los Angeles Lakers will have considerable flexibility in upcoming draft night. They hold three first-round picks (2026, 2031, and 2033) available for trade. <\/p>\n<p>The team also has an estimated $51 million in cap space, accounting for Reaves\u2019 $20.9 million hold. Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka said they passed on some opportunities to preserve optionality. As for the question whether James still fits into LA\u2019s plans, \u201cthe first thing they have to do is move off LeBron,\u201d an Eastern Conference front office executive told ESPN. \u201cLet him walk and use the space to retool around Luka. Keeping Reaves is critical. [Doncic] plays best with another ball handler\/creator like with Kyrie [Irving] and [Jalen] Brunson.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, Lakers\u2019 team president Rob Pelinka has expressed the desire for James to retire as a Laker. As per sources, Pelinka wishes for James to conclude his career with the Lakers, targeting 2026 or 2027 if he plays longer.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the decision to bring James back hinges on his salary and the team\u2019s financial flexibility, as they\u2019d need to balance retaining James with building around Doncic. The NBA star\u2019s agent, Rich Paul, told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hoopshype.com\/story\/sports\/nba\/rumors\/2025\/06\/29\/rich-paul-on-lebron-james-opting-into-contract-with-lakers-lebron-wants-to-compete-for-championship\/84533995007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">ESPN<\/a> in June 2025 that he wants to compete for a championship, and the Lakers are aware of this.<\/p>\n<p>James, a 22-time All-Star, is earning $52.6 million this season and is averaging 22 points, 7.1 assists, and 5.8 rebounds per game on 50.2% shooting. He previously accepted a $2.7 million pay reduction on his last contract to assist the Lakers in avoiding second-apron penalties. A substantial salary concession from James this summer would represent a notable shift in his negotiation approach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the NBA offseason heating up, the Los Angeles Lakers are contemplating a monumental move to bring back&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3790],"tags":[7,4034,1698,300,4044,185,251,150,4033,4043,6,16907,81057],"class_list":{"0":"post-609871","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-lakers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-la","10":"tag-la-lakers","11":"tag-lakers","12":"tag-lalakers","13":"tag-lebron-james","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","16":"tag-losangeles","17":"tag-losangeleslakers","18":"tag-nba","19":"tag-pop-culture","20":"tag-pop-culture-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116092180117127639","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}