Dave McMenamin: Now, I’ve checked in with both the Lakers and LeBron’s camp on this one. For the Lakers, it’s business as usual. They have motivation to compete at the highest level and maximize not just LeBron’s timeline, but they want to compete now with Luka Doncic. Some have said that the true cause of this situation was the Lakers not offering LeBron a contract beyond next season. But Rich Paul told me that they never asked for one. Paul also made it clear to me that LeBron has not asked for a trade. And Paul hasn’t even discussed the possibility of wanting a trade in the future with the Lakers. Paul did tell me that four teams contacted him with interest in trading for LeBron. So now we wait. The Lakers have a full roster to have a decision to make on Shake Milton’s contract by July 20th. They also have three expiring contracts in Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, who’s here tonight, and Maxi Kleber, plus their 2031 first-round draft pick they can use in trade scenarios. Now, I asked LeBron just before tip off if he’d like to join the broadcast to discuss everything, and he told me, quote, “I ain’t got nothing to talk about, guys.”Source: YouTube
