The Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James have not agreed to a contract extension this offseason, and as of now, James could become an unrestricted free agent after the 2025-26 campaign.
Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka recently shared that the Lakers want James to “choose his story” going forward.
“The first thing we want to do in terms of LeBron and his future is just give him absolute respect to choose his story with his family in terms of how many years he’s going to continue to play,” Pelinka said. “He’s earned that right.”
Former Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas doesn’t seem to agree with how the Lakers have handled things with James in the offseason.
Arenas said he would have signed James to a new contract if he were the owner of the iconic Lakers organization.
“If I was the owner, I would have — I’m just being honest — I would have made a deal with him,” Arenas said. “I would have had him opt out of that 50-something, ask him what he wanted, if he needs some help with trying to start his own league, whatever, right?
“I know they ain’t got that kind of power like [Steve] Ballmer do, but I would have did something, man.”
Arenas continued.
“If I can backdoor another 50 to him, invest in his school or whatever,” he said. “Something that he’s going to be like, ‘All right, bet.’ He’s going to capitalize later on in life to be wherever he’s gonna be. To save me 50 today where I can build, I would’ve.”
Even for how great a player James still is, it’s understandable as to why the Lakers reportedly haven’t put an extension on the table for him ahead of the new season. Signing a player of James’ age to a new deal wouldn’t come without its risks, as he will be turning 41 years old in December.
There’s a chance that “Father Time” comes for James very soon and he starts to show his age in the coming season. He’s been able to defy what it means to be in one’s prime with how great he’s been for a long time, but “Father Time” is ultimately undefeated. If James ends up having his production dip, the Lakers would have their hands tied with a declining player on a bloated contract.
Inking James to another expensive deal would also limit the Lakers’ financial flexibility in the coming years as they look to build a consistent championship contender around guard Luka Doncic. Los Angeles should prioritize having the financial room to bring on a younger star next to the Slovenian sooner rather than later, but having James under contract would get in the way of that pursuit.
However, the fact that James hasn’t inked an extension with the Lakers doesn’t mean that it’s set in stone that he won’t finish out his career with the franchise. Maybe James will ultimately re-sign with the Lakers in the summer of 2026 or even decide to retire from the league after the 2025-26 season.
