One League executive believes that LeBron James should demand a trade to a talented but disappointing Western Conference team.
As the Los Angeles Lakers continue to trend downward, losing seven of their last 10 games, it's only natural for the LeBron James trade speculation to begin. Would it even be a discussion behind closed doors in Los Angeles? Who knows. But with a no-trade clause, any deadline deal of LeBron would have to come directly from him. The league can speculate all they want but if LeBron doesn't approve of a deal, it legally can't happen.
That's why the decision is all LeBron's. It's something that he has to be thinking about as it becomes more and more clear that the Lakers aren't in a position to compete for a championship in the Western Conference. Interestingly enough, there's one NBA executive who believes LeBron should demand a trade away from the Lakers. But not just that he should demand a trade away from Los Angeles but that he should demand one to the Sacramento Kings.
In becoming the third piece next to De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, this executive believes that LeBron could help the team emerge as a legitimate championship contender in the West this season. Theoretically, if LeBron did demand a trade to the Kings, they're one of the few contenders with the necessary assets to get a blockbuster deal done too.
The only team LeBron James would demand a trade to
For as much as a trade to the Kings may work on paper, I can't imagine there's any team that LeBron would demand a trade to that isn't the Golden State Warriors. At this point in his career, I don't believe that LeBron would want to start over on a team like Sacramento. Playing next to Fox and Sabonis could be appealing on paper, but I don't see it happening.
If there's one team LeBron would agree to be traded to, it's probably the Warriors to play next to Steph Curry. Even though it's still pretty unlikely, there is a path to LeBron selling the move as a way to check off his bucket list of playing next to Steph while also trying to win one more championship. With the way the Warriors have played this season, there's reason to believe that LeBron could emerge as a player who could help take the team over the top in a wide-open West.
With all the recent speculation that has surrounded the Lakers and LeBron, I still believe it would be pretty unlikely for a trade to happen this season. Could that change during the summer? Who knows. But at least for now, I do believe LeBron would much rather see the Lakers make a trade to improve the roster rather than force his way out of Los Angeles.