LeBron James Has Had No Buyout Or Trade Talks With Lakers, Expected To Be Available For Training Camp
Despite a frenzy of offseason speculation, LeBron James is not headed anywhere, at least for now. According to a detailed report by The Athletic's Dan Woike and Joe Vardon, James has not engaged in any buyout or trade conversations with the Los Angeles Lakers.
There is no indication from either camp that such talks have taken place, and all signs point to James reporting to training camp ahead of the 2025–26 NBA season. The 40-year-old superstar, who recently opted into the final year of his $52.6 million deal, is still expected to wear purple and gold this fall.
James' decision not to pursue an extension after opting in to his player option sparked immediate buzz around the league. Combine that with Rich Paul's cryptic statements about evaluating what's best for LeBron "at this stage in his life and career," and rumors swirled about a possible split between the NBA's all-time leading scorer and the Lakers. But reality, as it turns out, is far more stable than the headlines suggest.
LeBron has been active and visible with the team throughout the summer. He was seen shaking hands with Rob Pelinka, exchanging laughs with head coach JJ Redick, and supporting his son Bronny at Summer League games in Las Vegas. All of it pointed to one conclusion: James is still fully invested in the Lakers.
Some of the confusion began when it became clear that James would not be the centerpiece of the franchise moving forward. That title now belongs to Luka Doncic, the 26-year-old superstar the Lakers acquired in a blockbuster midseason deal.
Yet rather than fueling division, Doncic's arrival may actually be extending LeBron's championship window. As long as James continues to perform at a high level, pairing him with Luka could give the Lakers a legitimate title shot.
From a business standpoint, the Lakers have no incentive to rush LeBron out. They want to keep their books clean for next summer, and James' expiring contract gives them maximum flexibility. Trading him for another star would commit them to long-term salary, something they've been trying to avoid. A buyout, meanwhile, makes even less sense.
If they cut him before training camp, Cleveland, one of LeBron's rumored suitors, could sign him. But if they wait until after the season starts, the Cavaliers (currently over the second apron) would be ineligible to pick him up due to the NBA's new CBA rules.
Those hoping for a dramatic exit should temper their expectations. League sources have consistently stated there's been no pressure from LeBron's camp to push a move. Scoop B reported that four teams, the Clippers, Mavericks, Warriors, and Cavaliers, had reached out to Rich Paul regarding James, but none of that has translated into anything substantial.
James also holds a full no-trade clause, so any deal would require his full approval.
There's also the sentimental aspect. This season could be LeBron's last in the NBA, and he's made it clear how much playing alongside his son Bronny means to him. Bronny, who is under contract for three more years with the Lakers, has been improving steadily under the organization's development plan. LeBron recently called it the most gratifying experience of his career.
In the meantime, James is staying busy off the court—golfing, vacationing, and rehabbing his left knee.
So until further notice, the King stays in Los Angeles. He may no longer be the singular face of the franchise, but alongside Luka Doncic, he still has a chance to author one more magical run.This story was originally reported by Fadeaway World on Jul 16, 2025, where it first appeared.
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And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Healthy Jesse McCulloch big key for Michigan State basketball's future
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My ranking of the NBA's top players next season — and where the Knicks fit
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Does restricted free agency still work for the NBA and its players? Did it ever?
Most offseason business is done for NBA teams, with a few notable exceptions. Golden State's Jonathan Kuminga, Brooklyn's Cam Thomas, Philadelphia's Quentin Grimes and Chicago's Josh Giddey, all restricted free agents, remain unsigned. With no other teams dangling offers, the teams and their players are in protracted staring contests, with no end in sight. Advertisement Here at The Athletic, we've looked into each individual case. However, writers Tony Jones and Eric Koreen had some thoughts on restricted free agency as a concept. Here, they discuss its merits, whether it is a relic of a past economic reality and if it can be tweaked. Koreen: I don't want to delve right into hot-take artistry, so let me say: The Oklahoma City Thunder won the Alex Caruso-Giddey trade. Caruso played an essential role in helping the Thunder win their first title. Winning the title is the whole dang point. But Giddey was solid as a Chicago Bull. To close the season, he averaged 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 9.3 assists in 19 games after the All-Star break, shooting 45.7 percent on 4.3 3s a game, attempting 5.8 free throws per game. Did he rescue the Bulls from their fate as Play-In fodder? He is but one man, so no. But he was good! Now he is one of The Restricted Four. None of them are all-stars, but they are all young with utility. As RFAs, their teams can wait for other teams to give them offer sheets, with the right to match. The only team with significant cap room this summer, the Nets, declined to use their space in that way (more on that later). So now, the four can negotiate with their teams, hoping to come to a long-term deal, or sign a one-year qualifying offer — in Giddey's case, $11.1 million, the richest of the bunch — allowing them to become unrestricted free agents in 2026. I feel most for Giddey this year because he was useful in Oklahoma City and figured out how to contribute there. Still, he is stuck in this scenario. To review quickly, restricted free agency was introduced after the 1999 lockout, a reaction to young players reaching unrestricted free agency too quickly for the owners' liking. (The rookie scale itself came into effect in 1995, a reaction to deals such as Glenn Robinson's 10-year contract after being the first pick in 1994). It was just another tool to tie a player to the team that drafts him, with the team holding more of the power. Advertisement By now, we understand that the best young players are going to get paid, regardless. Perhaps teams will find common cause with lesser rotation players, hoping to offer long-term certainty in exchange for an annual discount. Let's start big, Tony: Do you like the way restricted free agency works? Jones: I like the way it works, as it gives franchises — specifically small-market franchises — control up to as many as nine years, which allows them to retain the star talent they drafted. But RFA looks like a casualty of this new collective bargaining agreement. Teams are more hesitant, understandably so, given the penalties, to spend a bundle of money. They are more careful about who they are spending their money on, and that's frozen the RFA market. In years past, Giddey's performance might have earned him that big offer sheet. The same goes for Grimes, who emerged as a starting-level shooting guard over the past season. Of course, context is everything. We are talking about four guys who are affected here. Not one of them has affected winning on a grand scale. When you watch Golden State play, there is a reason Kuminga, for all of his talent, is on the bench so often. If you watch the Nets play, it's clear why Thomas doesn't have a market in RFA. Grimes and Giddey proved to be good players. But they also broke out primarily in March, when at least the Sixers were doing everything they could to lose every game possible and when many teams in the league were simply counting down the days to summer vacation. I maintain that putting up numbers in March requires context. That being said, Grimes projects to be important to what Philadelphia does this season. Giddey projects to be important to what the Bulls do. Thomas and Kuminga? They have yet to prove they contribute anything but their own statistics at the NBA level, and that's why their markets don't exist. Advertisement Is this something you agree with, Eric? Koreen: There is a lot to consider there. I think their markets don't exist for a few reasons. I'm not going to ferociously defend their games, and I partly agree with your last statement. Teams will not bend over backward to sign those guys, with reason. However, the unique context of this summer, with only one team operating with cap space, is a huge factor. That the Nets were looking to rent that space out to get future picks basically eliminated the cap-space teams. This is where I go back to yelling about rewarding teams for not trying to win, as I did in March. If the Nets were not guaranteed a top-five pick if they end up as the worst team in the league, they would surely be more aggressive in trying to sign players who could help them next year. Instead, they did financial favors for Denver and Atlanta for picks, not caring a lick about the short-term. I digress. With the way teams are building out their future payrolls — look at all the expiring money the Clippers have in 2027, for example — the death of free agency, including RFA, might have been overstated. This year might be an extreme example of a trend and not a vision of the future. However, I want to quibble with something you said: that it is good teams can 'control' their drafted players for so long. I get it. I was a teenage Raptors fan when Tracy McGrady left Toronto after three seasons, robbing us of years of T-Mac/Air Canada Eastern Conference supremacy. But our colleague David Aldridge wrote earlier this year in favor of abolishing the draft. I don't agree with him, but I also think that effectively tying a player to his franchise for so long, given that the one-year qualifying offer doesn't come close to matching his long-term earning potential, is inherently unfair. I have some ideas about how to rework things, but do you think this system is fair to the players (keeping in mind they make millions of dollars to play basketball; this is all in context of the system)? Jones: Fair isn't the word I would use. I do think that because of the new CBA, where teams have to be vigilant on who and what they are spending their money on, the system is tough. This has become so much more of a business. In the past, you could drop $20-25 million on a starting shooting guard such as Grimes, who I think contributes to winning, and if need be, trade the contract a year or two down the road. Those days are over. And that's what makes the RFA market difficult. We are also seeing what the NBA values and doesn't value in terms of skill. Thomas and Kuminga are both extreme ball-in-hand players. If they don't have the ball in their hands, they aren't effective. This is what they have put on tape in four years. In the NBA, if you are a ball-in-hand player, you'd better be one of the best 20 offensive players in the league. Otherwise, you need role-playing skills. You need to be a 3-and-D guy, a floor general or a rim protector. Advertisement What makes me feel for Grimes is that he is versatile enough to play all across the backcourt and can be a role player. What I like about Giddey is that he can run an offense, although he is similar to Thomas and Kuminga in that he largely needs the ball in his hands to be effective. The business world and reality of the RFA market, combined with what the players have proven to be as NBA players, is why we are seeing the freeze. I believe if any of the four did more than very rarely flash star potential, even in this difficult market, somebody would have moved enough mountains to create the space for an offer sheet. Or their own teams would have. What are some potential resolutions to the business side of this? Koreen: I agree with your assessment of things in these cases. If the CBA limits how teams plan, that will especially be the case with RFA, when your aggression isn't even guaranteed to get you a player. And no, none of these guys are certain difference-makers even at a top-40 level. Beyond that, the CBA is bargained collectively. Both sides agreed to this. I can only get so worked up about it. Still, I can't get the Kuminga/Golden State issue out of my mind. The Warriors don't want Kuminga, and Kuminga doesn't want to be in The Bay. Yet, the Warriors weren't willing to forgo extending him a qualifying offer ($7.9 million for 2025-26), the mechanism that keeps him restricted instead of unrestricted. Thus far, Kuminga doesn't want to accept it. Given what we know about the risks of an 82-game season on the body, I don't blame him. I'd want to lock in a longer deal, too. The problem lies with the qualifying offer, then. Right now, it is 135 percent of your previous contract, in most cases. Of course, you have a window, during the offseason after the player's third year, to agree to an extension and avoid any sort of free agency following his fourth year. So, let's keep that — except if the two sides don't come to a deal, the qualifying offer is 225 percent of the previous salary (or, make up your own formula, like the NFL's franchise tag), which makes the one-year deal more enticing for the player and more problematic for the team. Maybe with the raised qualifying offer, you extend the window for teams to exclusively negotiate with their pending RFAs. Essentially, make the team have to make a hard choice about the player's future, with more paths to unrestricted free agency. Advertisement I get the importance of teams having vehicles to keep their rosters together, especially as that seems more fleeting with the new CBA. But I also think tying a player to a team like this is, frankly, wrong. These teams are being cowardly here, or 'protecting the asset' in business-speak. Do you believe in the player or not? It feels like players deserve an extra smidgen of leverage, especially if they wind up in a situation that doesn't work for them. Jones: You made a terrific point here, Eric, and it's a point worth exploring. For all of the warts displayed by some of the players we are talking about, the teams are essentially holding on to them just because they can, and that's wrong. So, maybe it's time for some tweaks to RFA. These four teams have cost the players money, or at least taken away the chance for them to get that payday elsewhere. So, here is what I propose: If a player goes into restricted free agency, that player has a good portion of the offseason to either re-sign with his team or sign an offer sheet from another team. If none of that has happened by, say, Aug. 15, the player has two options, and the team has two options. The team can either keep the qualifying offer on the table or rescind it. The player can either accept the qualifying offer, if the team still has it on the table, or go straight into unrestricted free agency. That, I believe, will keep the basics of RFA in place. It will give teams a great runway to keep their guys, but it will also prevent teams from doing what we are seeing now, which is essentially freezing the market. How does that sound? Of course, there will be tweaks, but is the premise a solid one? Koreen: The biggest reason I'm against that is our vacation time, Tony. Do you like taking time off? Dragging free agency into August in a real, codified way? Guh! I have trouble reconciling that with how free agency actually works, because it would still put players in a rough position if the qualifying offers were rescinded. It's unlikely rival teams would hold off on their main activity until then, so will a competitive market exist at that point, even if the players become unrestricted? In that case, the qualifying offer would have to be a mutual option, where if either side opts into it, it becomes guaranteed. Even in that case, I'd favor putting the qualifying offer at a higher percentage of the previous salary. Advertisement As we spoke about, we're talking about a small number of players in what might turn out to be an outlier of an offseason. With all the different team motivations at play, though, the NBPA should have RFA in mind next time the CBA is up for negotiation — if not as a priority, then as something that can be tinkered with a little. (Top photo of Jonathan Kuminga:)
