{"id":76944,"date":"2025-07-07T07:56:02","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T07:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=76944"},"modified":"2025-07-07T07:56:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T07:56:02","slug":"breaking-news-lakers-make-likely-decision-on-granting-buyout-for-lebron-james","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=76944","title":{"rendered":"Breaking News: Lakers Make Likely Decision on Granting Buyout for LeBron James"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2210988674-e1751837823787.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"LeBron James\" \/><\/p>\n<p>LeBron James seemingly pushed the gas pedal all the way to the floor for the Los Angeles Lakers offseason by dropping a bombshell statement via agent Rich Paul on the eve of NBA free agency. James opted in to the final season of a two-year, $101 million contract but revealed the news through a complicated statement from Paul that is still being dissected in NBA rumors.<\/p>\n<p>With surprising buyouts happening to stars like Damian Lillard with the Milwaukee Bucks, there has been some speculation that the Lakers could grant James a buyout allowing him to hit free agency. As a reminder, a buyout allows an NBA team to reach an agreement with a player about the remainder of their contract while allowing the veteran to immediately become a free agent.<\/p>\n<p>NBA insiders quickly put this idea to rest pointing out that Los Angeles is not going to let James walk without receiving anything in return for the superstar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe idea of buying out James\u2019 contract \u2014 even if he gives back a chunk of money \u2014 also doesn\u2019t make logical sense,\u201d\u00a0ESPN\u2019s Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst wrote in a July 4, 2025, story titled, \u201cNBA free agency: LeBron\u2019s next move, Denver\u2019s deals, more intel.\u201d \u201cThis isn\u2019t the situation the Milwaukee Bucks were in with Damian Lillard, a future Hall of Famer sitting out with a torn left Achilles.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThis is a player who was second-team All-NBA last season for the Western Conference\u2019s No. 3 seed, and with a less than 100% version of Doncic. What good would it do for the Lakers to simply let James walk?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>LeBron James\u2019 Statement Via Rich Paul Puts His Future With the Lakers in Doubt<\/h2>\n<p>If James did indeed want to bolt the Lakers, it would have made sense for the superstar to opt out of his contract and test the waters of NBA free agency.<\/p>\n<p>James\u2019 odd statement via Paul appears to have been a strategic move by the superstar along with Klutch Sports to put pressure on the Lakers front office to make more win-now moves.<\/p>\n<div id=\"2c7ff01801963ad5e744663a4b075479\" class=\"embed_container\">\n<div class=\"tweet-container\">\n<article class=\"tweet-container_article\">\n<div class=\"tweet-media tweet-media--1\">\n<div class=\"tweet-media__container\"><a class=\"tweet-media__img\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SInow\/status\/1939706744466288650\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow external\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"visible\" draggable=\"true\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Gus2XBfXsAAJnAk.jpg?format=jpg&amp;name=small\" alt=\"Image\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/Gus2XBfXsAAJnAk.jpg?format=jpg&amp;name=small\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>As a refresher, here is what Paul\u2019s statement to\u00a0ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania\u00a0revealed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeBron wants to compete for a championship,\u201d Paul said in the July 29, statement on James\u2019 future. \u201cHe knows the Lakers are building for the future.<\/p>\n<p>He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we\u2019ve had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWe understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what\u2019s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what\u2019s best for him.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Lakers Rumors: Los Angeles Is Not Expected to Give LeBron James a Buyout<\/h2>\n<p>Los Angeles did make a major move by signing Deandre Ayton following his release by the Portland Trail Blazers. It remains to be seen if additional moves are on the way for the Lakers.<\/p>\n<p>Could Los Angeles do the unthinkable by exploring potential trades for James? It remains to be seen, but it appears the idea of a buyout is off the table as ESPN\u2019s Bobby Marks explained.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cCertainly, you\u2019re hearing like, well, would the Lakers ever do a buyout if things got and I\u2019m thinking like, why, like what help does it make it to the Lakers?\u201d Marks pondered during a July 3, interview on \u201cThe Ryen Russillo Podcast,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0per HoopsHype.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201c\u2026 You\u2019re not going to be able to go out and get a $30 million replacement for him. You\u2019re still had the non-tax level exception.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LeBron James seemingly pushed the gas pedal all the way to the floor for the Los Angeles Lakers offseason by dropping a bombshell statement via agent Rich&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76949,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Breaking News: Lakers Make Likely Decision on Granting Buyout for LeBron James - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=76944\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Breaking News: Lakers Make Likely Decision on Granting Buyout for LeBron James - 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