It’s been weeks since the NBA Finals ended, and the Los Angeles Lakers still haven’t made LeBron James a formal offer. According to NBA insider Shams Charania, the two sides have barely talked since an initial check-in call early in free agency.
Charania dropped the update on ESPN’s NBA Today, and the timing is interesting. The Lakers hold roughly $50 million in cap space tied up in James, and they’re trying to figure out how to use it. But so far, no offer has been made. Just a phone call that didn’t lead anywhere.
“There was a check-in call made, to my understanding, early in free agency once teams were able to start negotiating with their own free agents after the end of the NBA Finals,” Charania said. “Since then though there hasn’t been much communication, from my understanding, between the Lakers and LeBron James’ side. And certainly not an offer yet.”
So what’s the hold up? A lot of it seems to be about roster construction. The Lakers are reportedly trying to figure out whether they can meaningfully improve the team around James. If they can’t, maybe the logic goes, why would he stay? But silence from the front office isn’t exactly a vote of confidence.
The Warriors Are Waiting
Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors are paying close attention. ClutchPoints senior NBA reporter Brett Siegel recently reported that the Warriors are prepared to pursue James if he hits the open market. And the noise has only gotten louder.
“League sources telling us at ClutchPoints that the Warriors are very much open to pursuing LeBron James and they plan to do so this offseason in free agency,” Siegel said. “LeBron James, at the end of his career, he could still contribute at a high level, we saw that in the playoffs. Pairing him with Stephen Curry is going to be something that the Warriors look to pursue over the next few weeks.”
The idea of LeBron and Steph on the same team? That’s not just a headline. Siegel added that Stephen Curry himself is planning to talk with James about a potential partnership. According to the same source, Curry intends to meet with James in the weeks leading up to free agency.
“It seemed very doubtful, it seemed low percentage, now it’s kind of questionable. Now there’s going to be some legs to this. That same source told us that Steph is planning on meeting and talking with LeBron about potentially joining the Warriors over the course of the next few weeks leading up to free agency.”
Obviously, LeBron hasn’t said he wants out. But the radio silence between him and the Lakers is getting hard to ignore. If the Lakers don’t act soon, Golden State might just slide in and change the entire balance of the Western Conference.
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