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DEEP DIVE: HOW THE LUKA DONCIC ERA IS FORCING LEBRON JAMES OUT EARLY
At 41, LeBron James faces free agency. We analyse the Lakers' roster shift toward Luka and why Cleveland is the top destination.
The 21-12 Lakers have played better than you’d expect from just looking at the roster. All season, they’ve found ways to win, even if it hasn’t always looked smooth.
After Minnesota bounced them in the first round last spring, the Lakers’ weaknesses were obvious. They couldn’t protect the paint against Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert, and Anthony Edwards lit them up on the perimeter.
Rob Pelinka went to work. He grabbed DeAndre Ayton to shore up the middle and brought in Marcus Smart, who’s made a living on defence. They let Dorian Finney-Smith walk to Houston, choosing instead to sign Jake LaRavia. LaRavia doesn’t have Finney-Smith’s defensive reputation, but he’s more willing to shoot from deep, which gives him a different look.
Still, even with these tweaks, the Lakers feel a little awkward. Luka Doncic and LeBron James run the show, with Austin Reaves looking more and more like a future All-Star, but the pieces don’t always fit. They’re missing that big, athletic forward every contender seems to need. Ayton’s been better than most expected, but he’s not the kind of dynamic big man Doncic thrived with in Dallas.
There are nights when James, Doncic, and Reaves can’t seem to get in sync. Some losses have been flat-out ugly. But their talent usually wins out, and they’ve stayed afloat in a brutal Western Conference.
This past summer, the Lakers locked up Doncic for three more years at the max. They didn’t extend LeBron, though.
So here we are: LeBron’s 41, heading into free agency again. Reaves, at 27, is also up for a new deal, and it’s obvious the Lakers see him as a bigger part of their future than James.
No one knows what LeBron will do. Perhaps he will hunt for a new team for his record 24th season. Maybe he takes less money—his current deal pays $52.6 million, which isn’t exactly easy to match. Or maybe he finally retires. Even now, he’s still putting up good numbers: 20.9 points a night, shooting over 50%, with 6.5 assists and 5.1 boards in 16 games.
So, where does LeBron go from here?
Sam Quinn at CBS Sports thinks it all points to Cleveland. “If he took the minimum in Cleveland, it’s a much easier sell than a pay cut in LA,” Quinn writes. It wouldn’t feel like he’s sacrificing for a team moving in a new direction—he’d just be coming home and helping out after a rough year for the Cavs.
If LeBron heads back to Cleveland, it’d be his third stint with the Cavs. He already gave the city five Finals trips and a title. People expected Cleveland to be near the top of the East this year after going 64-18, but right now, they’re just 20-16, sixth in the conference. Injuries have hit them hard, especially with Evan Mobley, Sam Merrill, and Max Strus out, and Darius Garland’s been up and down. They could use LeBron’s scoring, even if his defence isn’t what it used to be.
James left Cleveland for the second time in 2018 and took the Lakers to two Western Finals and a championship. Now, as free agency looms, the question hangs: Does he run it back one more time in LA, or does the King finally go home for good?
JUST IN: TREY MURPHY CLAIMS FRANCHISE RECORD AMID BRUTAL NEW ORLEANS PELICANS SLUMP
Trey Murphy III is the new Pelicans 3-point king, but a 7-game losing streak has New Orleans reeling. Explore the trade rumours.
Two weeks ago, the Pelicans rolled into a game against the Cavaliers at 8-22 but finally showed some life. They'd just rattled off five straight wins and looked like maybe, just maybe, they’d found something.
Since then? It’s been rough. Seven straight losses, even with Jordan Poole and other key guys back on the court. Still, there’s at least one thing worth celebrating.
Last night against the Heat, Trey Murphy needed three more threes to break the franchise record. He did it. He passed CJ McCollum and now sits at the top for most threes made in Pelicans history.
Murphy’s been lighting it up for three years now. Nights like this make you wonder if New Orleans will think twice about trading him while they try to rework the roster.
Honestly, it’s not surprising he’s the new three-point king in New Orleans as of January 5, 2026. The guy’s been launching and hitting from deep all over the league since he got the chance. After the game, Murphy talked about how much he appreciated doing it in New Orleans. But with the team sitting at 8-29 and no first-round pick next year, he didn’t exactly look thrilled.
You can’t really blame him. The Pelicans wanted to build off last year’s disappointment, but injuries and slumps have dragged them down. Even with bodies coming back, they just can’t buy a win—seven in a row now.
So, yeah, a shake-up looks almost certain before the February 5 trade deadline. The roster could look pretty different in a month.
People are starting to ask if Murphy’s time in New Orleans is running out. If this is it, he’s left his mark.
Looking ahead, teams with eight wins at this point usually sell at the deadline. The Pelicans? Their situation’s a little different since they don’t even own their 2026 first-round pick—that went to Atlanta in the Derik Queen deal, and that move’s stinging now.
Bringing in new faces might be the only way to jolt this team. Murphy and Zion Williamson have kept fighting, but it’s not catching on. Poole's been all over the place since he came back.
Derik Queen is out hurt, and rookie Jeremiah Fears is starting to show why he matters for the future. Still, with everything that’s happened, it’s hard to call this season anything but a failure.
You never know what’ll happen at the deadline, but expect the Pelicans to be in the thick of it, looking for change.
No matter what happens next, Trey Murphy’s last few seasons have been something to remember. The guy’s become one of the best shooters out there.
OPINION: LUKA DONCIC IS OFFICIALLY THE BEST LAKERS GUARD SINCE KOBE BRYANT
Luka Doncic is on a historic scoring tear for the Lakers, averaging 33.6 PPG. Compare his 2026 season to Kobe Bryant and Jerry West.
Luka Doncic hasn’t even wrapped up his first full season with the Lakers, but he’s already doing things that hardly anyone in franchise history has pulled off.
He’s 26, running the show at guard, and right now he’s putting up 33.6 points per game—the best in the NBA. And for the Lakers? That number means even more. According to Legion Hoops, the last time a Laker scored at this pace was Kobe back in 2005–06, when he averaged 35.4 and basically took over the league. In the twenty years since, nobody in a Lakers uniform has finished a season with a scoring average like Doncic’s.
What’s wild is how steady Doncic has been. He’s not just going off for one or two crazy nights—he’s been relentlessly consistent. Take Sunday’s win over Memphis: he dropped 36 points, and that was already his 19th game this year with at least 30. Not many players in the league have hit that mark, and if you look at Lakers history, guards rarely keep up that kind of pace all year.
Scoring gets most of the headlines, but Doncic is doing a lot more. He’s running the offence, taking on the toughest late-shot-clock possessions, and either setting up his teammates or just finishing the play himself. His assists and rebounds back that up, and he’s near the top of the team in both.
So, where does this season fit with the all-time Lakers greats? If you line up all the best-scoring years, Doncic’s numbers stack up pretty well, and he’s not just jacking up shots—there’s balance to his game. Kobe’s ''05–'06 season is still the gold standard for pure scoring, but it was all about high-volume shooting. Even LeBron’s best scoring year in LA didn’t touch Doncic’s current average, despite similar usage.
Honestly, averaging 30 or more for a season is rare for a Laker, no matter the era. Wilt Chamberlain did it back in the late ‘60s, Jerry West managed it a couple of times before that, and after them, only Kobe lived in that neighbourhood. Now Doncic is right there with them, just on the numbers alone.
He’s near the top of the league in points and minutes, night after night, no matter the opponent or the building. That consistency says a lot.
We won’t know the final totals until the season ends, but at this pace, Doncic is on track for one of the most impressive individual seasons the Lakers have seen since Kobe’s best years.
Even if you forget about the history for a second, the numbers make it clear—Doncic’s first full season in LA is already something special.
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