Lakers Ready to Drop LeBron James’ Contract After 2025-26?
The Los Angeles Lakers have had an interesting offseason thus far. Depending on who you ask, it’s either been adequate or a nightmare. One interesting quirk to all their signings is that none of the new contracts go past two seasons.
On any regular team, this would be viewed positively, as frugality while still attaining talent. On a Lakers team employing LeBron James, however, the decision not to go all-in is certainly a choice.
When the team traded for Luka Doncic, the Lakers effectively announced an alteration to their timeline. An official statement wasn’t required. A shift took place in which a team that was so used to feeling the need to go all-in for just one more year of hope suddenly was granted an extra five years of leeway at a minimum.
With a clear vision of the future featuring Doncic, it begs the question: What is the Lakers’ plan with LeBron James? Thanks to some reporting by Marc Stein, we may have some answers.
Lakers Looking to Shed LeBron’s Salary
Due to the signings we’ve seen this summer, many people have rightfully questioned where LeBron’s head would be at with it all. Headlines trying to figure that out have frankly dominated the summer.
Throughout his career, James has had a significant amount of influence on every team he’s played for. The organizations were wisely building around the best player in the league. From roster moves to influencing head coaching candidates, LeBron has had a say in it all.
This shift into being massively appreciated, yet not the sole focus, will be a new ground for James to navigate. While we haven’t received any statements from James thus far, we may have gained a better insight into the Lakers’ perspective.
Thanks much!
Story in full: https://t.co/7jtGTdKSma https://t.co/7TQgUErQbn
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 26, 2025
In a recent article, Marc Stein suggests that the Lakers may consider parting with James sooner rather than later. He says the Lakers are widely presumed to prefer that James’ contract is no longer in the books after this season.
Quite a headline, but not all that surprising when you take a look at the landscape in LA. The team has Luka Doncic, and thanks to some asset-free additions this summer, can make moves in the future. Why would they be fearful of the future?
The Lakers Future
The moves this summer have signaled a look ahead by the organization to much bigger fish on the market. With names like Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo being mentioned, I would be playing it safe right now as well.
Regardless, it will be interesting to see how much validity this ultimately holds and how it affects James’ perspective.
One thing that could alter his outlook on the situation would be a possible under-the-table guarantee of some sort of deal for one of those two stars. An under-the-table deal that could hypothetically be worked out on a yacht in St Tropez between LeBron James, Maverick Carter, and Nikola Jokic’s agent Miško Ražnatović.
That is a crazy scenario to think of. It would be even crazier to post it on Instagram. If it were posted, it would probably be best not to give it a cryptic caption.
This didn’t get posted by accident. pic.twitter.com/Ng4DjXlXhv
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) July 27, 2025
With this post, it is unclear what is being discussed. It is, however, an interesting group of three to have a conversation like that. One thing that is clear is that there is never a boring day as a Lakers fan.
