LeBron James Breaks Silence on Lakers Missing Out on Klay Thompson, DeMar DeRozan

The 20-time All-Star shares his thoughts.

Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

With DeMar DeRozan signing with a deal with the Sacramento Kings in free agency, the Los Angeles Lakers have now missed out on multiple top free agents, including DeRozan and Klay Thompson. Thompson also chose another team than the Lakers, signing with the Dallas Mavericks last week after the Mavericks and Lakers were his final two teams.

The Lakers have received some criticism for missing out on these free agents, but All-NBA combo forward LeBron James has been understanding of the fact that it didn't work out for the team despite their best efforts.

"It takes two to tango," LeBron said, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "I think our front office, our coaching staff, they tried to do the job that they wanted to do or tried to get guys to come and it didn't happen. And that's OK. That's part of the business. I've been in this business long enough to know that sometimes it happens, sometimes it don't."

"So we don't sit here and lie about or cry about it," James added. "We move on and Klay's a great player. Obviously DeMar's a great player. Valanciunas was one of those guys who ended up going to Washington, was someone that was in talks with us, but we move on to see how we continue to get better."

The Lakers will have to move on without bringing in one of these two stars, even though they had hoped to make some big moves in the summer after not doing so at the trade deadline. There is still the chance for the Lakers to make some moves, which is the case after the 20-time All-Star took $3 million less than his max contract to keep the Lakers under the second apron. Still, the Lakers do have financial constraints that will make it difficult for them to hand out a big contract without making some other moves.

More Lakers: Paul George Picks New 76ers Number to Honor Kobe Bryant