LeBron James will not be playing for the Los Angeles Lakers this season, an announcement that immediately got the NBA’s attention.
Shams Charania reported the news, saying LeBron would carry on his career but that the Lakers could “move on without him” as he’d be headed somewhere else.
Before you get too excited, he’s not likely coming anywhere near Detroit, as it’s been widely speculated that the Warriors are making a move to bring both LeBron and Anthony Davis to the bay area. If that doesn't work out, LeBron always has the chance to return to Cleveland, so the Pistons will not be on his radar for a second.
But the Pistons may feel the effects anyway, as LeBron’s absence means the Lakers are even more of a threat in free agency.
The Lakers may push hard for Jalen Duren
The Duren contract situation has dominated the Pistons’ offseason news thus far, as the two sides are reportedly far apart on a deal, which has led to meeting with other teams, including the Kings and Lakers.
It’s hard to imagine what the Kings would have to interest the Pistons in a sign-and-trade, but I do wonder how the LeBron news is going to affect how the Lakers do business at other positions.
With Luka and Austin Reaves in place, the Lakers could go hard for Duren, especially now that they know they won’t have LeBron’s salary on the books.
What could the Lakers trade the Pistons for Duren?
When it gets down to the nuts and bolts of a sign and trade that sends Duren to LA, the idea starts to fall apart, as the Lakers don’t have much to send to Detroit.
If they wanted to send Austin Reaves back, there might be something there, but that seems unlikely given that they just gave him a max deal.
Aside from that, the Lakers have Luka and a lot of scraps, so the most they could offer would be future draft capital and cap space, as they don’t have any players that immediately stand out as fits in Detroit.
Jalen Duren has no leverage
It comes back to leverage, and the Pistons have all of it in the Duren saga, as the most that can happen is another team offering him a deal Detroit will have the chance to match.
The Lakers can’t even offer Duren a max without making other cuts, and the LeBron news doesn’t change that. It may change the Lakers' approach and make them more desperate to make a splash though, so I expect LA to be popping up in every rumor.
The Pistons can wait this out and see if another team wants to put a max deal on the table and at that point decide to match, but until then, it’s up to Duren and his team to find a palatable trade offer if he truly wants out of Detroit.
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