Despite clear upgrades to the Los Angeles Lakers’ roster, they can’t seem to shake rumors of superstar LeBron James wanting out of town. That has obviously led to plenty of rumors and even trade proposals involving LeBron, with the latest one sending him to the San Antonio Spurs.
A LeBron trade involving the Lakers and the Spurs between now and the trade deadline seems incredibly far-fetched. However, it appears clear that LeBron is unhappy in Los Angeles, with the Lakers prioritizing Luka Dončić over him.
Whether that leads to him being traded remains to be seen, but getting him to the Spurs would require a lot of moving parts that aren’t quite so easy to pull off. In Fox Sports’ ridiculous trade, San Antonio would send out Devin Vassell, Harrison Barnes, and a 2028 first for LeBron.
A LeBron James trade is unlikely, but not impossible
If that were something that the Lakers would accept, the Spurs would certainly be willing to for LeBron. However, if the Lakers were to trade him during the season, they would expect to receive impact players who could help them, not just salary filler and a potentially bad first-rounder.
Of course, they have aspirations for cap space in 2026. That further complicates a potential LeBron trade, with them likely unwilling to take back long-term salary that could eat into their 2026 cap space.
Few teams can even manage an offer that would give the Lakers flexibility while also offsetting his massive $55 million salary for next season. The Spurs technically could offer up Kelly Olynyk, Harrison Barnes, and Keldon Johnson as matching salary. Of course that obviously would need picks for the Lakers to even consider it.
The Lakers have no incentive to trade LeBron this season
That would get them close to LeBron’s salary while only adding $17.5 million to the Lakers’ books for the 2026-27 season. That’s compared to Hughes’ proposed deal that would send out Vassell, who will make $27 million a year over the next four seasons.
Still, trading salary filler for LeBron, who is still a top-15 player in the NBA, is nonsensical even if it’s technically doable. Having LeBron for one last playoff run is more valuable unless the Spurs are offering multiple firsts for him, which seems unlikely since they didn’t do so for Kevin Durant.
LeBron would obviously help the Spurs, giving them an all-around star to pair with Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox. Spurs fans probably shouldn’t hold their breath seeing LeBron in silver and black, though, unless he were to sign with San Antonio after next season as a free agent.
Overall, the odds seem low that the Lakers will trade LeBron, but if he demands to be moved, then all bets could be off. He would undoubtedly demand to be dealt to a contender, and the Spurs may be an appealing landing spot. Not to mention they would need assets, but a lot would have to happen for this scenario to play out, thus making it a pipe dream.
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July 23, 2025 | 12:00 pm
