Hello everyone and welcome to the Lakers Newsletter Cup knockout phase. Of course, the Lakers will be traveling to Las Vegas this December for just a quick brawl, and honestly, I’m pretty happy about that. The four days between games this week and the three days next week are some early season highlights for a travel-weary reporter like me.

But that idle time? It’s the devil’s playground. And in this case, there is nothing more sinful than talking about the LeBron James trades.

joke clause

If the Lakers actually gained momentum with a narrow overtime loss to the Las Vegas-based Atlanta Hawks and a home win over the largely terrible Portland Trail Blazers, the timeout created a hole in their schedule that the talking heads needed to fill.

The bitter loss to Orlando, the “we’re still not good enough” vibes after an ugly second half against Denver, the helplessness against Phoenix’s shots and the two miserable blunders in Minnesota and Miami – and well, people have them get opinions.

In a kind of cable special, one expert has an opinion about James being traded on one show, another expresses it on another show, and a third then puts it on his podcast and Voilaa news cycle was born.

James, who has to stay away from the Lakers for personal reasons after missing Sunday’s game against Portland, has the edge here. The Lakers gave it to him this summer when they agreed to a no-trade clause.

So before anyone can dream of James going for another title with Stephen Curry in a Golden State Warriors uniform, James has to say that’s what he wants. And while talk show after talk show may attempt to instill a championship mentality in James, there’s simply no evidence that it exists.

For James, the victory is important. Anyone who was around him when the Lakers got their teeth knocked out over the last two weeks could see the frustration and anger. But if another championship had been the only driving factor, would James have signed an extension in 2022 after the Lakers missed the playoffs with a completely flawed roster that included Russell Westbrook? Would he have refrained from shopping around more last summer before re-signing and giving money back to the Lakers to give them room to make easier deals?

James was under no obligation to do any of this. If ever a 39-year-old has earned the right to have everything that makes him happy, it’s James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and a timeless force who can still decide games seemingly out of nowhere because of his size .

Now the danger is that this is going to be one of those stories that looks really bad with James asking to hunt down another ring, but there’s no evidence of that.

Since joining the Lakers, James has said he wants to finish his career with them.

From the Lakers’ perspective, it all comes down to whether James wants to be traded or not. Because of the no-trade clause, they don’t have the option to purchase it if they even want to. He could tell the Lakers he would waive it, but if he was so willing to waive it, why did he even ask for the clause?

None of this is due to Bronny James. All signs point to James wanting to win with the Lakers. Period.

Things could change and this could one day be the kind of conversation based in reality. But for now it’s just filler.

Song of the week

“Don’t Mind Me” by Styrofoam Winos

I first heard this band on MJ Lenderman’s excellent live album, where they sang harmonies on “Long Black Veil,” and was reintroduced thanks to Steven Hyden’s list of favorite albums of 2024. I just love the vibe, the tapping and lo-fi. This is beer music at its best – or maybe a $10 Cabernet in a party cup.

In case you missed it

Elimination in the NBA Cup means the Lakers will get valuable rest and time for physical training

Plaschke: The sinking Lakers franchise needs to jettison LeBron James and Anthony Davis

Since the Lakers are playing without LeBron James, they have several heroes in the win over Portland

LeBron James misses the shot at the final whistle in the Lakers’ wild overtime loss to the Hawks

The Lakers were buried in a barrage of 24 Miami threes: “We’re all embarrassed”

The Lakers’ Jarred Vanderbilt was sidelined until at least January with a knee injury

The Lakers lose to Minnesota in the weakest game of the LeBron era in LA

LeBron James takes an old-fashioned approach to lead the Lakers past the Jazz

Lakers Newsletter: Who’s ready to panic?