The Los Angeles Lakers’ long-term future with 21-time All-NBA power forward LeBron James remains weirdly tenuous, even after he picked up his $52.6 million player option with the team for 2025-26.

Although James is no longer the two-way wrecking ball he was during his MVP prime, he remains an All-NBA talent with massive offensive upside. James also exhibited more defensive engagement for the Lakers than he had since perhaps the 2020-21 season last year, alongside fellow All-Stars Anthony Davis and, later, Luka Doncic.

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The 40-year-old former four-time MVP isn’t exactly chopped liver, even on the precipice of an unprecedented 23rd pro season. Across 70 contests for the 50-32 Lakers last year, James averaged 24.4 points on .513/.376/.782 shooting splits, 8.2 assists, and 7.8 rebounds a night.

James has won four NBA titles with three teams, including the Lakers most recently, in 2019-20. His agent, Rich Paul, told ESPN’s Shams Charania soon after James picked up the option that he was hoping L.A. would return to contender status soon, while cautioning that James and Paul may not have considered the then-current roster (prior to its signing of Deandre Ayton) to be quite at that level.

“LeBron wants to compete for a championship,” Paul told Charania. “He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we’ve had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.

“We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career,” Paul added. “He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what’s best for him.”

Per The Athletic’s John Hollinger, one team in particular appeared to hold some appeal to James: the Dallas Mavericks, led by two of James’ All-Star champion teammates, point guard Kyrie Irving and power forward/center Anthony Davis.

There were whispers in league circles about LeBron James having eyes for Dallas before he eventually opted into the final year of his Lakers deal, writes @johnhollinger.

James wasn’t willing to leave $52 million on the table to take a nontaxpayer MLE or something similar from… pic.twitter.com/XazzoKVtV2

— The Athletic NBA (@TheAthleticNBA) July 21, 2025

“While he opted in to the final year of his contract and does not appear to be an imminent trade candidate, as our Joe Vardon and Dan Woike reported here, that doesn’t necessarily mean returning to the Los Angeles Lakers on a one-year deal was at the top of his wish list. In particular, the whispers about him having eyes for Dallas — a place where he could have teamed up with former teammates Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving and young phenom Cooper Flagg — before opting into his deal were hard to ignore.”

Ultimately, James balked at the idea of having to take less than $52.6 million on a non-taxpayer mid-level exception from Dallas or some other contending club, and that ultimately drove his decision to opt into the final, expiring year of his deal.

Hollinger registered significant skepticism that James would agree to a contract buyout of the expiring deal.