Bill Simmons has made a strong claim about LA Lakers superstar LeBron James, and explained how the Lakers “screwed up” NBA free agency.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported James’ unhappiness with the Lakers, after LA said they were targeting the 2027 offseason and building the team around five-time All-Star Luka Doncic.
James reportedly is prioritising winning a fifth NBA championship, and is evaluating the Lakers’ ability to do so in the short term. If he decides they cannot, he is likely to request what would be a ground-breaking trade to a championship contender.
LeBron James is ‘going to get traded’ says Bill Simmons
Simmons, of The Ringer, is convinced that the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, James, will be traded from the Lakers, and is in a situation never seen before for the greatest NBA players ever.
Speaking on The Bill Simmons Podcast, he said, “LeBron, with no leverage for the first time in his career, is playing for someone else’s team. They’ve clearly said ‘we’re in the Luka [Doncic] business.”
He went on to list the all-time greats that never had to face the issues James is facing.
He continued, “We’ve never seen a star as famous and as successful as LeBron in a situation like this.
“It never happened to Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], it never happened to Bill Russell, it never happened to Michael Jordan, it never happened to Larry Bird, it never happened to Magic Johnson, and it never happened to Tim Duncan.
“These are all the best players in the history of the league – none of them have ever been in a situation where they’re on somebody else’s team, on somebody else’s timeline, and the team is like ‘we don’t really care what you think about any of this.
“That’s why he’s obviously going to get traded at some point. I think you can lock that one down. It doesn’t seem like he wants to be on the Lakers, and I think he wants to win titles.”
The Lakers have made clear to James through their actions that their priorities don’t align. They haven’t made the big splash that many were expecting, despite the Lakers showing interest in Damian Lillard.
However, they have also made significant mistakes this offseason, which could dearly cost them in the short term.
LA Lakers ‘screwed up’ in the offseason, says Bill Simmons
No matter what Rob Pelinka, General Manager of the Lakers, says about their long-term plans, this offseason could not have worked out the way the Lakers had hoped.
Their goal seemed obvious: hold on to the few pieces you have on a thin roster, bring in a much-needed center, and build some depth and defence around James and Doncic.
Instead, they lost a key wing defender in Dorian Finney-Smith, saw the best options at center slip through their fingers and settled for Deandre Ayton, and are now fighting to acquire Lillard off the back of an Achilles tear.
Simmons thinks that the Finney-Smith part of the equation is the most telling.
He said, “The Lakers screwed up the Finney-Smith thing. He and his agent felt like [Rob] Pelinka was negging his value in the open market and telling teams he was hurt, and they found out about it.
“I think the Lakers thought he was coming back, and that they were going to get a center. That was going to be their summer plan. Instead, they lose him, and they sign [Jake] LaRavia, who they probably could have gotten anyway.”
The Lakers picked up LaRavia to replace Finney-Smith on the wing for $20 million over two seasons. It was their only move on the first day of free agency, replacing a player they should never have lost.
Simmons added, “[Finney-Smith] I thought was important for them. He plays well with Luka, and he’s exactly the kind of guy you need if you have Luka and LeBron together. This is a disaster for them. They’re not even close to the top four in the West now.”
If that is the case, and one of the NBA’s most successful franchises are not close to a ring, then Simmons is right. James will try to force his way out. But like he said, James has no leverage, so getting out is another matter entirely.