Lakers: Pundit Blames LA For Creating Win-Now Pressure With LeBron James Extension

The team's front office finds itself between a rock and a hard place.

When Los Angeles Lakers All-Star power forward LeBron James agreed to ink a multi-year extension during the offseason, it was seen as a vote of confidence from James in the team's front office to build a winning club around him. The agreement was a two-year extension worth $97.1 million, with a player option in 2024-25.

Now that LA has all the power in the relationship as James is essentially locked-in for multiple years in the twilight of his career, the team appears hesitant to flip future draft equity in exchange for players that could improve its fighting chances this season, per Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group.

“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with him, ensuring he’s a driving force of Lakers culture for years to come,” team vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka claimed in a statement after the agreement was announced, Goon notes. “The Lakers platform has proved again and again to be an ideal place for the game’s all-time greats to thrive and achieve. We are thankful LeBron has experienced the power of that.”

He's experienced the power of a 15-21 start to the season and possibly his second straight missed playoffs, that's for sure.

James has taken his standard passive aggressive swipes at the team's roster construction in postgame remarks throughout the season, but his most obvious overtures came this past week following a 112-98 defeat at the hands of the mediocre Miami Heat Wednesday. 

"I think about [how] I don't want to finish my career playing at this level from a team aspect," he said at the time.

James also insinuated he may be open to retiring earlier than he had intended if he was doomed to trapped on teams with no chance of winning.

Now, all eyes are on Pelinka and co., as the team does have real assets at its disposal, in the form of its highly-coveted future first-round draft picks in 2027 and 2029, to get a deal done this season that could surround James with better teammates. Doing nothing would really represent something of a betrayal of the intent behind which that extension was initially inked.