NBA source hits Lakers with truth bomb regarding LeBron’s free agency

The Los Angeles Lakers could have some major decisions to make this offseason, especially when it comes to superstar forward LeBron James.

James, 41, is set to become an unrestricted free agent, and there’s no guarantee that he’ll be back with the Lakers in the 2026-27 season.

Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney recently shared a quote from an NBA source that discussed James’ upcoming offseason. The source said that while James would probably most like to retire with the Lakers, the team won’t be able to rely on him as a fallback option in free agency, as he’ll likely have already moved on to a new team if L.A. drags its feet.

“It’s not like if they get turned down by Peyton Watson in free agency, they can fall back on LeBron,” the source said. “He’ll already be gone.”

There’s no guarantee that James returns for the 2026-27 season, as he could opt to retire. However, he’s playing at such a high level in the 2025-26 season that it makes sense for him to return for at least one more year in the NBA.

An All-Star this season, James is averaging 22.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game while shooting 50.2 percent from the field and 30.5 percent from beyond the arc. James missed the start of the season with sciatica, but he’s been able to play in 36 of the Lakers’ games already.

Los Angeles has a lot of decisions to make in the offseason as it tries to build a championship contender around new franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic. Both James and rising star Austin Reaves could test the free agent market in the offseason, and the Lakers will have some decisions to make about the rest of their roster as well.

James, Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart, Deandre Ayton, Jaxson Hayes, Maxi Kleber and Luke Kennard could all become free agents following the 2025-26 campaign. If the Lakes make a deep run in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, they may prioritize keeping the roster together around Doncic.

Right now, the Lakers are the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference and only 1.5 games back of the No. 3 seed. While Los Angeles has struggled at times on defense (23rd in the league in defensive rating), it still has three elite offensive creators in James, Doncic and Reaves.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Lakers handle James’ future in the offseason, especially since he’s spent the last eight seasons with the Purple and Gold.