The Los Angeles Lakers might have to trade for LeBron James this summer.
James has clearly been offended by Lakers' management twice over the past two weeks. First when it elected not to make a deal before the Feb. 10 trade deadline after he had both publicly and privately prodded for something. More accurately, he expected it. And second when Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka stepped over the line when he announced James was on board with the status quo; a source told ESPN there was no prior sign-off from James.
He has been hammering the team's knuckles with rounds of trademark passive-aggressive maneuvers since, both on social media and in news conferences. Then he went aggressive-aggressive during All-Star Weekend in an interview with The Athletic in which he dropped lighter fluid on a previously bubbling concept that he might make one last return to the Cleveland Cavaliers before he retires.
Regardless of how James, 37, might try to shape those quotes going forward -- he was careful to qualify them to a degree -- he is a master media operator who, while standing in Cleveland, was speaking to a reporter he knows well. He knew exactly what he was doing.
Same as he was doing last week, in the wake of the trade deadline inaction, when he spoke about how his recent knee injury would likely bother him the rest of the season. The knee surely is an issue, but James was also laying the groundwork to give himself options depending on how the rest of the season plays out for the Lakers (27-31).
What James is doing is likely aimed at one primary goal: Force the Lakers into major action this summer. He tried to do it nicely and now he's doing it harshly.
This isn't about leaving Los Angeles -- that is not something James wants. It's not even about playing with his son. Bronny, 17, is a minimum of two years away from the NBA, if he's even able and ready at that age. There's a lot of basketball between now and then and, as James has shown this season, there's still gas in the tank to deploy before worrying about that dream.
James has never cared about draft picks, present or future. He's had occasional interest in developing young teammates, adopting a few over the years. But he's never had a problem saying goodbye if shipping them out moves him closer to a gold trophy faster. Any young guy on his roster who thinks differently hasn't done his research.
He plays for now and always wants to win the championship in the season he's in. You don't make eight straight NBA Finals, 10 of them over a 13-year span while switching teams three times, by focusing only on the long term. James demands his teams to operate this way, he brings it every day and expects everyone else to as well. That absolutely includes management.
Now is when it would be prudent to recall the winter of 2018, when James had grown frustrated with a flawed Cavs team. He'd declined to extend his contract the summer before when a deal for Paul George was on the table. Cleveland team owner Dan Gilbert responded by acquiescing to Kyrie Irving's trade demand, working out a deal centered around a draft pick and not players as James had made it clear he wanted.
There was plausible deniability, but in mid-January James started playing under a form of protest. Everyone on the team knew it and it was evident if you watched closely enough, James' foot was off the gas. Gilbert and Cavs general manager Koby Altman were at a crossroads and knew there was a strong chance James was leaving in free agency but they still had the rest of the season.
Eventually, Gilbert and Altman realized they didn't have a choice. James was an irreplaceable resource; once he was gone there would maybe never be another. So the day before the trade deadline, they got several trades in place. That night, Altman met with James before the game and told him the following day they were trading for four new players and had decided to use their first-round pick from that year to do so. It was the seventh first-rounder they were trading in the four seasons James had been back.
That night, an energetic James ended his quasi-strike with a signature 37-point, 10-rebound, 15-assist masterpiece that included a buzzer-beater to win a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He topped it off with a move for his personal passive-aggressive Hall of Fame, turning his back on Isaiah Thomas when he charged the court to celebrate. James never wanted the Cavs to trade for Thomas and already knew he was being shipped out the next day.
The Cavs got four role players at the deadline but that wasn't the real prize. That night, members of the front office looked at each other and realized: what they'd really traded for was James.
He followed it up with one of the greatest postseason runs of his pro career, making two buzzer-beaters and winning two Game 7s -- including one on the road -- to make his eighth straight Finals.
The Lakers were involved in all that, they got in on those Cavs trades and used them to get the salary-cap space to sign James the following summer and got their first-round pick.
Now they might need to remember it.
After the Lakers won the title in 2020, James extended his contract two seasons through 2023. Because of the rules around that extension, James wasn't able to get a player option in the deal. It is the first time he hasn't had an option to end a contract early since he was on his rookie deal almost two decades ago.
It wasn't even an issue when the deal was announced, but that is a fortunate circumstance now. The Lakers will get this summer without having to worry about James hitting free agency and watching them work before deciding on re-signing.
But it isn't free. Aug. 4 is the first day James can extend his contract again. The Lakers will surely offer one. And James will have some demands before he accepts.
The Lakers have a flawed roster -- yes, James played a large role in putting it together but that doesn't mean he isn't ready to divorce it -- but they have options. If Russell Westbrook picks up his own player option, he will be on a $47 million expiring contract.
After only being able to trade their 2027 first-round pick -- which the Lakers decided not to trade at the deadline, in part because they still owe two future firsts from the Anthony Davis deal -- rules will then allow the Lakers to trade their 2029 pick.
Being aggressive and further mortgaging the future will be painful and risky. But James is making his feelings clear: He doesn't care. Do it and they get more than new players, they will keep James deeply invested.
That's something no team has been able to say no to.