The NBA Trade Deadline passed with the Los Angeles Lakers deciding to stay the course. The Lakers had been linked to a few players on the trade market such as Dejounte Murray and Bruce Brown, but nothing materialized. There was one crazy rumor floating around that suggested the Lakers were looking into trading LeBron James. James’ agent Rich Paul was quick to put out those flames and now that the deadline is over, James is reportedly looking to finish his career with the Lakers as per Zach Lowe of ESPN.
“Everything I’ve heard for years, including today, is if he has his druthers, he would like to finish his career with the Lakers,” Lowe said on his podcast. “I think he wants to finish his career a Laker. I think he probably will opt in. Is he really opting out of $51 million?”
The reason why the rumor about the Lakers possibly looking to trade LeBron James picked up steam on social media was because the reporter who reported it had a surprisingly accurate track record when it came to James’ career. James has a player option on his contract at the end of this season.
James has been having a strong year as the oldest player in the NBA but the Lakers have been a subpar team. He’s been averaging 24.9 points per game, 7.4 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 1.3 steals with splits of 51.9 percent shooting from the field, 38.8 percent shooting from the three point line and 73.3 percent shooting from the free throw line.