LeBron James missed his first sport of the season Sunday as a consequence of a sore foot, however he wasn’t anticipated to be out lengthy — and the Lakers can’t afford for him to be.
It appears to be like as if LeBron will even miss this Friday’s Lakers sport in Minnesota, experiences Shams Charania and Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
It would give James, who missed Sunday’s sport with foot soreness, eight days in between video games if he returns Sunday towards Memphis.
He additionally has been away from the Lakers for private causes, coach J.J. Redick advised reporters.
“LeBron is just not with the crew proper now. He’s out for private causes, excused absence,” Redick stated.
All that provides as much as making it appear extremely unlikely LeBron travels with the Lakers to Minnesota for Friday’s sport.
This all comes when commerce hypothesis has bubbled up round LeBron, with experiences that the Golden State Warriors and different groups are monitoring LeBron’s scenario to see if he would possibly need out of Los Angeles. Don’t guess on a commerce coming to cross. First, LeBron has a no-trade clause and fully controls the method. He can’t be traded until he asks for a commerce, and the Lakers would by no means commerce him until he demanded it as a result of he’s too necessary to their enterprise (he’s the one which fills the stands at excessive ticket costs, the one sponsors flock to be close to, the one which sells the jerseys and merchandise). LeBron has had probabilities to depart, together with this summer time when he was a free agent, and as an alternative he not solely re-signed with the Lakers — and supplied to take a reduction to assist deliver in additional expertise to the roster — he requested for that no-trade clause.
The Lakers drafted Bronny James due to LeBron — and since Bronny has potential as a prospect — and gave Bronny a assured NBA contract, not a two-way. There is zero likelihood LeBron would stroll away from taking part in in the identical group together with his son. Which brings us to the ultimate hurdle in all of this: Even if LeBron determined he needed to attempt to recapture the magic of the Paris Olympics and crew up with Stephen Curry, it is a sophisticated commerce to drag off as a result of luxurious tax apron restrictions hem in each the Lakers and Warriors, neither can tackle more cash in a commerce than they’re sending out. Matching a commerce practically greenback for greenback turns into that rather more troublesome when LeBron calls for Bronny be a part of the deal and include him, which might very seemingly be a stipulation.
LeBron’s not going anyplace. Probably not even to Minnesota this weekend.
