RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesIt has been less than a week since LeBron James chose to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency after spending the last eight seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. While all the details about exactly why he left the Lakers aren't known to the public yet, some of those details are starting to filter through.
In an ESPN report , Dave McMenamin took an inside look at what went into James' decision to head to Philly and how the multi-week process played out. The other teams that were hoping to sign James -- the Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat , Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves among them -- never "truly allowed themselves to think James was on his way," according to the reporter.
McMenamin also wrote that the belief among people close to the superstar was that the Lakers "were ready to move on from" him.
"People close to James believed the Lakers were ready to move on from the 22-time All-Star and were never serious about re-signing him despite president of basketball operations and GM Rob Pelinka stating the contrary during an end-of-season news conference after L.A. was swept in the second round by the Oklahoma City Thunder ."
Over the past year or so, after James had exercised the player option on his contract for the 2025-26 season last summer, there had been rumors that the Lakers didn't want to keep James around now that Luka Doncic was their unquestioned franchise player. It is unknown whether that was truly the case, but it appears that they were ready to move on from him in any case.
With James, Rui Hachimura, Marcus Smart, Luke Kennard and Jaxson Hayes leaving in free agency, Los Angeles moved quickly to acquire center Walker Kessler in a sign-and-trade deal with the Utah Jazz and add guards Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton, plus big man Sandro Mamukelashvili in free agency. It later signed backup center Kevon Looney and wings Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: LeBron James' camp believed Lakers 'were ready to move on' from him
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