On February 26, Beijing time, NBA celebrity Rick Butcher (the author of Yao Ming's autobiography) interviewed several NBA general managers and bosses to discuss James's recent remarks. These insiders broke the news that James hopes that Presti (thunder general manager) can replace Pelinka as the general manager of the Lakers, and he pressures the Lakers in many ways, in fact, in order to realize the dream of father and son on the same stage in Los Angeles.
When James announced in Cleveland that he was going to play with Brownie and was willing to follow Brownie to other teams, no general manager in the league immediately began planning how to make his team James' next stop. There are three main reasons: First, Brownie is still just a high school student, and without changing the league's draft rules, he will not be able to enter the NBA until the 2024-25 season, and everything is still far away; second, James currently has one year left on his contract with the Lakers, and he is eligible to renew his contract for two years early this summer; third, no one believes that he really wants to leave the Lakers.
Or, more precisely, many people think that his words actually show that he prefers to stay with the Lakers. "I don't think he wants to leave," said one Eastern general manager, "he's currently in Hollywood, and that's why he went there in the first place." Butcher said that James joined the Lakers in 2018, which is very different from the previous two decisions, and he chose the Lakers not out of interest in hedging the championship.
In 2010, he joined the Heat, vowing to get "not five, not six, not seven... "Championship", he returned to Cleveland in 2014 to fight for the city's first championship. However, both decisions have prerequisites, and if Wade hadn't stayed and Bosh hadn't joined, he wouldn't have gone to Miami. He recruited marksman Mike Miller, who made sure the Heat re-signed veteran Haslem. In Cleveland, the prerequisite for his return was that the Cavaliers traded Wiggins for Lefour.
Before joining the Lakers, James did not mention such a request, but after playing for a season, he was dissatisfied with the team's lineup, and contributed to the Lakers in exchange for thick eyebrows, and finally won the championship, and later exchanged for Wei Shao, but did not achieve the expected effect. Agent Rich Paul denied reports of James' inaction with the Lakers and dissatisfaction with Pelinka, but the general managers but spoke to bucher did not believe Paul's claims.
"I heard he was trying to get Sam Presti to get there to replace Rob [Pelinka]," said one Eastern Conference general manager, "I don't think it's going to happen eventually, but I can tell he wants Pelinka out of there." ”
It is this pressure that makes the general managers of the whole league uneasy about signing Brownies in order to get James. "Can you imagine managing his son while managing him?" A general manager said. Another general manager said: "I can't represent all the other teams, but to plan for a 39-year-old player and accept his son, and I heard that his son is just okay, I don't think it's necessary. LeBron is still great, but he can't take you fly anymore, and I think the only motivation to do that is you need box office. ”
One NBA owner admitted that it would be a huge asset for small-market teams, as every game in the final year of LeBron's career would be "automatically sold out." "If Minnesota signs him, their ticket revenue will double... Sponsorship fees will increase, as will TV ratings. It's all temporary, though, so I'm not sure how many teams will do that... Go and meet all of James' requests. ”
Is James really willing to play a season in Minnesota, Charlotte or Sacramento to kick off his Brownies career? The general managers Bhutcher interviewed believed that James's words were actually addressed to an audience of Lakers owner Jenny Bass.
"The commitment to play with the Brownies," the Eastern Conference general manager said, "is more important to him now than any championship." "And doing that without leaving the Lakers, it will be his dream."