The Lakers focus turns to Doncic, James really wants to leave? The truth: Never applied for a deal

LeBron James walked into Thomas Mark Center to watch his son Brownie's Lakers Summer League game, and the scene was instantly excited (By the way, Brownie was in a good condition).

Long before he stepped into the stadium, the Summer United in Las Vegas was already in a turmoil - the people participating in this NBA "offseason event" were talking about where his relationship with the Lakers had reached and whether the deal could happen. Although this topic is hot, it always turns into shrugging and spreading hands after a few discussions: After all, the situation in all parties is obvious, and no one can tell the ending. The current situation is roughly like this:

The Lakers have focused on Doncic's future, and there is a gap in LeBron's mind

The Lakers' center of gravity has now surpassed LeBron and are targeting the future dominated by Luka Doncic, but they still feel that this pair of double-core teams can compete for the championship next season. LeBron understands the team's choice to turn to young superstars, but according to sources, he feels some details have been overlooked during this transition period.

Doncic never took the initiative to come to the Lakers, and LeBron took the initiative to choose Los Angeles in 2018 - at that time, the Lakers had missed the playoffs for five consecutive years, which was the worst period after moving away from Minneapolis. Two years later, he helped the team win the 17th championship.

What is more worth mentioning is that according to sources, agent Ritchie Paul officially told the Lakers that LeBron intends to execute the last year of the contract - because the team did not seriously talk to him about a year or two like the previous two times.

To complete the transaction, LeBron must take the initiative to apply (he has the right to veto the transaction), but he did not do so. More importantly, ESPN's Dave McMenaming mentioned in the Lakers' Summer United broadcast on Sunday that Paul "had not even talked to the Lakers about possible deals in the future." With the veto power in hand, LeBron has absolute initiative, and whether to deal depends on him or not.

However, McMenaming added that four teams have contacted Paul to tentatively explore the possibility of trading LeBron.

LeBron wants to compete for the championship, but also wants to choose the city and team he likes. Stay in the West? That would have to cross Alexander's Thunder, Durant's Rockets, Jokic's Nuggets (the lineup has become stronger), Edwards's Timberwolves... there are so many opponents.

Go to the east? If potential next players like New York and Cleveland are replaced by him, they will have to dismantle the depth of the lineup, which will also increase the team's age sharply, and the window for championships will shrink into a crack. For example, the Cavaliers exchanged Garland for LeBron? The team's core age has increased by 15 years, and it is hard to say how much it has become stronger.

The fuse of all this is what Paul said to ESPN's Shams Charania when LeBron performed the player options this season: "LeBron wants to compete for the championship. He knows that the Lakers are paving the way for the future and understands this, but he values the opportunity to 'really win the championship'. We are very grateful for the eight-year cooperation with Jenny (Bass) and Robert (Pellinka). The Lakers are an important part of his career. But we also want to evaluate what is the best for him at this stage - he wants to make every remaining season meaningful, the Lakers understand and support it."

After all, the most beneficial and most likely place to compete for the championship next season may be the Lakers. This team, which is expected to win 50 games, has been fully trained and combined with center DeAndre Ayton, as long as the defense can keep up, its strength cannot be underestimated.

But this obviously cannot stop all the headlines from continuing to flood the screen.