The Lakers inked LeBron James to a massive two-year extension on Wednesday, a move that could significantly impact the team’s pursuit for Kyrie Irving and other roster upgrades entering next season.
Appearing on Thursday’s edition of NBA Today, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin offered some insight on the possible influence of James’ new deal on L.A.’s willingness to part with key assets, namely its 2027 and ’29 first-round picks, in an effort to improve the team. McMenamin noted that having the future Hall of Famer under contract for at least another two seasons could “re-energize” the Lakers’ trade talks with the Nets for Irving, or teams like the Pacers and Jazz who are looking to make moves.
“Now that they have that commitment, it should get them off that stance where they’re dead-set against moving off those assets to try to improve their team,” McMenamin said. “And this could re-energize the phone calls that Rob Pelinka makes to teams like Brooklyn or Indiana or Utah in order to get this team better in the short-term prior to training camp.”
