Insider: Lakers Could Look At LeBron James Trade After Doncic Deal

There's only one ball. Never has that old basketball saying been more relevant than now, after the LA Lakers acquired Luka Doncic. Both he and LeBron James are used to having the ball in their hands—all the time. How will the Lakers make that work?

How about a trade of LeBron? Insiders are already talking about it.

One of the craziest aspects of the Luka deal is this frees up the Lakers to be proactive in trading LeBron if they ever wanted to. You can plausibly trade LeBron to build a high end supporting cast around Luka that could contend long-term.
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) February 2, 2025

Jared Weiss brought it up. And according to his colleague and insider Jovan Buha of The Athletic, speaking on NBA Radio, a LeBron James trade could be a consideration at this point.

What happens with LeBron now? Is LeBron a Laker at the trade deadline? It's been well documented that there have been talks between the Warriors and the Lakers going back to the last trade deadline. Does that re-ignite here over the next few days? Do the Lakers get completely out of the LeBron/AD business?

Of course, James does hold all of the cards. He has a full no-trade clause, and could also opt out and walk this summer if he wanted. He could dictate his next destination if he does indeed want a trade. And we would speculate that playing with Steph Curry in Golden State would certainly be his top choice, given the BFF relationship they seemed to develop at the Olympics last summer.

The Lakers do have other needs they have to address right now, like, Who plays center? This will be a team to watch leading up to Thursday's trade deadline.