L.A. Lakers superstar LeBron James does not want his side to prioritise long-term signings, according to NBA writer Mark Medina.
NBA free agency news – L.A. Lakers
The start of free-agency saw the Lakers be very active on the market, choosing to prioritize continuity that stems over from trades made at the deadline last season, while making some additions to a team that reached the Western Conference finals.
The Athletic’s Jovan Buha believes that the Lakers’ biggest move of free-agency so far was re-signing Austin Reaves to a 4-year, $56 million contract after having a breakout season, and hugely stepping up in the absence of LeBron James last year.
Another important deal that the Lakers managed to complete was re-signing 25-year-old Rui Hachimura to a 3-year, $51 million deal after his impressive performances coming off the bench in the 2023 NBA playoffs.
Sam Quinn of CBS Sports argues that the Lakers pose more squad depth due to the additions of Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish and Jaxson Hayes, but still believes they need to make a bigger move if they are going to be able to contend with the likes of the Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers now have the middle lottery order of the 2019 NBA draft, with pick No.s 8-10 in Hayes, Hachimura and Reddish all on the roster of the purple and gold.
What has Mark Medina said about LeBron James?
Medina believes that LeBron James doesn’t want the Lakers to prioritize long-term signings due to his win-now mentality of wanting to be able to compete for another championship before he retires.
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, the journalist said: “LeBron in the past has been known to be involved in [front-office deals], and in fairness to LeBron, other star players have been known to at least be in the loop on deals and giving feedback to the front office from a player’s perspective.”
“Philosophically, no doubt he wants to win a championship. So he doesn’t want the Lakers to prioritize long term concerns.”
LeBron James’ future
The average age of the Lakers has got younger from a season ago with the free-agency additions, but LeBron James continues to get older.
Set to enter his 21st season in the NBA and turning 39 toward the end of the year, time is running out for James to win his 5th NBA championship.
As per StatMuse, last season the four-time NBA MVP averaged 28.9 PPG, 8.3 RPG and 6.8 APG on 50% field goal shooting. In that time, he also surpassed the great Kareem Abdul Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer which had stood since 1984.
Despite a foot injury in the latter part of the season which saw him miss 14 straight games, James returned for the playoffs and led his team on a historic playoff run where they ultimately fell short to the now-champions Denver Nuggets.
At his exit interview after the Lakers season ended, he teased the possibility of retirement, but it appears these fears have disappeared due to LeBron James publicly showing a sign of approval via his social media on the team’s free-agency acquisitions. How much input he had on those decisions, though, are unknown.
It seems that James has decided to gear up for the 2023-24 season with a team that largely remains the same from the one that went on an incredible run to the playoffs, with some notable upgrades.