5 Pros And Cons Of LeBron James Potentially Retiring From Lakers
It's no secret that Los Angeles Lakers All-NBA small forward LeBron James rocked the basketball world when he suggested, probably only somewhat seriously, that he was considering retirement this offseason, despite having $97.5 million remaining on his contract.
Let's break down some of the cons and pros of a hypothetical King James departure.
Cons
1. The team would instantly have to pivot to a rebuild, and while it would probably retain 25-year-old restricted free agents Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura, LA would probably need to flip oft-injured 30-year-old center Anthony Davis for as much future draft equity as it can finagle.
2. Los Angeles would lose its premiere star just five years after first acquiring him, equivalent to Wilt Chamberlain's brief Lakers tenure.
3. If Anthony Davis was retained, he would be relied upon even more offensively. Which, as we all now know, is a fool's errand.
4. Assuming, however, that the Lakers think long-term and do flip AD, the team could once again sink into that post-Kobe Bryant wilderness that the team occupied from 2016-18, where it was bereft of a superstar for really the first time since before that fateful summer of 1996.
5. It will adversely impact the development of whatever youth is kept around from this season. Reaves and Hachimura clearly benefitted from operating within James' orbit. Every good young player dreams of a season that leads it deep into the NBA playoffs, and without James helping guide Los Angeles there, that could stymie their growth and limit their postseason experience.
Pros
Just kidding, there are none.
LeBron James is one of the four greatest players in the history of the league, and even if he was slightly diminished in his record-shattering 20th NBA season, he remains one of the best active players in the game, even now. Losing his championship pedigree, leadership, and most importantly, his still-essential on-court contributions as a distributor and scorer would be a brutal blow for these Lakers, especially in a relatively lackluster free agent marketplace.
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