NBA reporter Jovan Buha recently stated that he believes LeBron James’ chances of remaining with the Los Angeles Lakers through the end of the upcoming season are around 85%.

As he notes in a recent YouTube video, this number is down from the 95% figure that he had stated in the past.

Buha is a noted trustworthy source on the Lakers, so this educated guess from him carries at least a little bit of weight.

And honestly, is anyone surprised to hear that percentage continue to decrease? It’s really not all that shocking considering the circumstances.

There’s already not been much clarity when it comes to LeBron’s situation and where he’s going to end up finishing his career.

Every time the subject has been brought up, it seems like it’s been met with vague reactions or tongue-in-cheek replies. There’s no clear indication of what’s going to happen from James’ side of things.

And who can blame him for attempting to conceal his plans? It’s pretty understandable for one of the most scrutinized American athletes to want to maintain some level of secrecy about what will of course become another career-defining move.

Whether he wants to retire in Los Angeles, return to Cleveland where it all began, or do something else is up to LeBron himself.

LeBron may not finish the 2025-26 season in Los Angeles

From an outside perspective, it would certainly seem like there would be positives if James did opt to leave Southern California.

He’s clearly the second-best player on the roster with Luka Doncic now running the show.

The focus is no longer primarily on number 23, and he’s not always the first topic of discussion when the Lakers are talked about anymore.

There’s a lot of obvious draw if you want to talk about him going back to the Cavaliers, too. National media outlets are already foaming at the mouth just thinking of LeBron running home to northeast Ohio for a planned retirement tour.

If he does just that and announces before the season that it’ll be his last (like Kobe Bryant did), he’ll get every media member from every corner of the United States rushing out to cover every public appearance he makes for the season.

Of course, that will also happen regardless of where he retires, but it’s hard to say doing it in Cleveland wouldn’t have an added element of storybook flash to it.

But no matter what James ends up doing, it feels like we’re getting closer and closer to something happening. When it stays this quiet for this long, you’ve got to think something is up.

I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see LeBron traded in the upcoming season.

Best believe if he truly wants to finish out his career somewhere besides the Lakers, he’s going to talk to who he needs to talk to, and he’s going to make it happen.