puis dans la liste qui s’affiche, cliquez sur AdBlock
Par Joël Pütz | Journaliste sportif
The Lakers have just experienced a real earthquake by announcing the sale of the franchise for a record sum. Could this disrupt LeBron James’s plans as he approaches retirement? An insider has spoken out on the subject.
It seems the Lakers can always be counted on to make headlines. A few months ago, the entire NBA was reeling after the Purple and Gold traded Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic. This time, it’s the franchise’s organizational structure that’s been shaken up, as owner Jeanie Buss agreed to sell the team to businessman Mark Walter for the colossal sum of $10 billion.
This is obviously a major move, as the Lakers have been owned by the Buss clan for nearly half a century. But what about the repercussions internally, especially regarding the roster? With superstars like Doncic and, of course, LeBron James, the news had better be well-received. Fortunately, everything indicates that this would be the case, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:
LeBron James not influenced by the sale of the Lakers
Speaking to people close to both Luka and LeBron James, there’s excitement about this move for what it means for this team. Obviously, having someone like Mark Walter doesn’t mean the salary cap goes out the window. There’s a new collective bargaining agreement in place that has punitive measures for teams that overspend. You lose draft picks, you can’t make trades and aggregate salaries, etc, when you reach towards the second apron.
But what you can do is add extra spending towards your scouting department, your analytics department, your health and wellness staff, etc., to make it an even more inviting environment other than just having the 72 and sunny weather that we have out here in Southern California.
The question was particularly relevant regarding LeBron, since the Chosen One has yet to decide on his personal situation and is close to retirement. Seeing Los Angeles make such a drastic management change could have dampened the forward’s desire to stay, but according to McMenamin, that would not be the case:
I’m told that one person that this decision has no bearing on his decision of moving forward with the Lakers is LeBron James. He still has his decision at the end of the month to decide whether to opt in for his next year’s contract worth about $56 million or opt out and become a free agent. This decision has no bearing on where LeBron will go next year. And then again, we have no indication so far that LeBron James won’t be a Laker next season.
