Superstar LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers continues to keep his offseason plans private, but ESPN’s Briand Windhorst—who has followed James since he was a high school student in Akron, Ohio—has a daring forecast.
The 39-year-old basketball icon will re-sign with the Lakers on a multi-year contract after choosing not to exercise his $51.4 million player option for the next season.
“LeBron has the option to opt out of his contract this summer, which I believe he will do for two reasons: first, he can sign a multi-year deal worth an average of more than $50 million annually, no matter how long he wishes to play,”
Windhorst stated on “Get Up” on ESPN on February 27 that he wants to play. He’s going to want to do that, in my opinion. Crucially, at the trade deadline, there was talk about him despite the fact that he now does not have a no-trade clause.
He can put in a no-trade clause to get that out of the way if he decides to opt out of his current contract and gets a new one, even if it’s only for two years. Therefore, I anticipate that Bronny [the NBA draft choice] will likely choose to opt out of that contract, even if it’s only to re-sign with the Lakers, regardless of how the Lakers perform.
LeBron James Upset Over Bronny James’ Narrative
James expressed his annoyance with the way his oldest son Bronny’s basketball future was covered when his name was taken off the 2024 ESPN NBA Mock Draft in a since-deleted tweet on X.
“Will everyone please just let the child enjoy college basketball and be a kid? Whatever he chooses to do, in the end, the work and outcomes will speak for itself. You guys may be unaware that he simply WORKS, regardless of what a mock draft says! Earned Not Assigned! James stated in a since-deleted post on X, formerly Twitter.
And to all the other young people out there aspiring to be great, he continued, “just keep your head down, put on blinkers, and keep grinding.” These mock drafts are completely irrelevant! I swear to you! Work is all that matters! Come on, people—let’s talk real basketball!
Now that LeBron will be 41 years old in 2025, ESPN’s draft expert Jonathan Givony forecasts Bronny to be a second-round selection in his NBA Mock Draft.
