NBA free agency is in full swing and the moves have been coming fast with all 30 teams trying to bring themselves a little closer to where the Oklahoma City Thunder are at the top of the mountain. One of the biggest transactions of the summer came when LeBron James opted into his $52.6 million player option with the Lakers. It wasn’t a surprise that James would want to return to Los Angeles and pursue a championship alongside Luka Doncic, but then James’ agent Rich Paul made some comments that made me think maybe we should have been surprised that he opted in.
Rich Paul: “He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we’ve had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a… https://t.co/tgyeCxRQZm
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 29, 2025
That sounds like a guy who wants to be traded from a rebuilding team to a contending team. Why not opt out then? Probably because James and Paul think that they can have their cake and eat it too. James might not get $50 million if he chose free agency, but he thinks that if he can engineer a trade from the Lakers, he can choose a new team while keeping his mega salary. He’s LeBron James, so he’ll probably get what he wants, but it’s stuff like this that makes James less likable than the guy he’s constantly compared to, Michael Jordan.
I think James is the best to ever play basketball. He may only have four championships, but his victory with Cleveland over Golden State in 2016 is an accomplishment that Jordan never had the chance to match because he didn’t go against a team that was close to as good as those Warriors. James is also going to compile more stats than Jordan and James was robbed of Finals MVP in 2015 because nobody had the stones to give it to a player on the losing team. The GOAT debate in basketball can go on forever, but one thing is for certain: Jordan is a lot cooler than James will ever be.
Jordan was almost universally admired, didn’t fire off dumb political takes, and didn’t change teams during hiss prime. James might be the better player, but Jordan wins the aura argument every time. I think that aura gap would only increase if social media was prominent in the 1990s like it is today.
Maybe I’ll change my tune on James if he helps the Knicks win a title before he retires, but that doesn’t seem likely. Someone who is helping the Knicks is Jordan Clarkson, as he’s expected to join the team on a veteran’s minimum contract after negotiating a buyout from Utah. Clarkson should give the Knicks some much-needed depth and scoring off the bench.
Over in Brooklyn, the Nets made a big move by acquiring Michael Porter Jr. from Denver in exchange for Cameron Johnson. The Nets also get an unprotected first-round draft pick from Denver in 2032. Good job by Brooklyn going seven years into the future with that request because it’s hard to imagine the Nuggets being in the lottery anytime soon. On the other hand, everyone on both teams could be fired by then, so what is even the point?
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