The Los Angeles Lakers are in a heap of trouble with the way the season has started.
After building a three-game winning streak and some momentum, the Lakers fell apart when the league’s health and safety protocol decimated the roster and Anthony Davis’ MCL injury followed.
The Lakers are 16-16, which is good enough for a play-in tournament spot if the season ended today. That’s far from where a team with championship aspirations should be.
LeBron James, though, has carried the load on both ends of the floor. He has scored 30 points in eight of the last 12 games and that comes while he plays minutes at center.
With the way the Lakers are playing, and how LeBron needs to win now, former NBA player and ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins questions if the star forward should demand an out and return to his hometown team:
I wonder if Lebron James would consider demanding a trade back to Cleveland?! I mean the Cavs do have nice squad! Don’t mind me tho and Carry on…
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) December 22, 2021
The Cleveland Cavaliers, the team James delivered a title for, are 19-12 in the Eastern Conference and on a six-game winning streak.
Of course, such a move would be wild and would definitely break the internet. However, the Cavs are currently hard-capped, so making a trade would be very, very tough.
LeBron is making an average salary of $42.8 million the next two years, so the only contracts the Cavs can use to equal that are Kevin Love ($31 million), Jarrett Allen ($20 million), Ricky Rubio ($17.8 million) and Lauri Markkanen ($15.6 million).
The Lakers would never willingly trade James, but if things keep trending south for L.A. while the Cavaliers keep ascending with talented youngsters Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and Isaac Okoro on the roster, among others, who knows what James would be thinking.
