The Deep 3 Podcast - LeBron James Is Leaving The Lakers | Emergency Pod

Episode Date: June 30, 2026

Emergency episode! The LeBron James era in Los Angeles Is Over #nba   Check out the TD3 merch: https://the-deep-3-shop.fourthwall.com/   Listen on Spotify!: https://open.spotify.com/show/3elbbqVumwqz8wlIdknsLW   Listen on Apple Podcasts!: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-deep-3-podcast/id1657940794   Follow us on TikTok!: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedeepthree   Follow us on Instagram!: https://www.instagram.com/thedeep3podcast/   Isaac's twitter: https://twitter.com/byisaacg   Mo's twitter: https://twitter.com/Mojo99_   Donnavan's twitter: https://twitter.com/Dsmoot3D Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It is 11.07 Central Standard Time, Tuesday, June 30th. And we are here to officially say the LeBron James era of the Lakers is over. Sean just tweeted. He has informed the team. He will be leaving to continue his career somewhere else. And we have to give you guys an emergency episode. We stopped house call dead at his tracks. House calls going to come out like an hour late today because we have to talk about this breaking news today.

What is y'all's first reaction to this? Wow. I know Jeannie Bus is jumping up and down with joy. Because apparently this is what she wanted for the last two, two and a half years. All right, man. You know what this is? The unction is on. The franchise can move on without him because he will play elsewhere.

He will, because he will play elsewhere. Wow. I guess we saw this coming. Still feels crazy to see tweeted out, right? We've been discussing this all year. When he was coming back from Seattle and wasn't playing very well. And Reeves and Luke were playing extremely well around, what was that, like December? we talked about it, said,

it's probably kind of clear they don't need him on the scene anymore he's going to leave. Hopefully they can sign and trade him. If not, they got to go about their caps base plan without him and mind because the new era is here

and he's not the best fit at this point of his career. Then things got better. We kind of started to sell ourselves that maybe it's best for all parties to have one more year together do his farewell towards the Lakers. Seeing this definitively

that he will not be back feels surreal. How do you feel? This is your team, goat? I got nothing to lose, man. Yeah, go James is gone. Yeah.

As a Lakers fan, I don't go to fuck. As a Lakers fan, this is crazy. I don't care at all. I would have loved to sign and trade him. It seems like he's going to the Warriors. If that's the case, he doesn't take a cheap contract and there's probably not a sign and trade and play.

Unfortunate. I would rather he go to the Cavs or the Heat or something else so we can get something in return. Yeah. That's the only thing I care about as a Lakers fan. I think from an objective of Lakers POV, even if he came back, it'd be for one year. I'm kind of fine to start in the new era now

and figuring out long term what it's going to be. without him. I think they made it work the best they could because he's a genius, all-time great player that even at this point of his career, they find a way to be valuable next to each other. He does not need to be the third option next to Austin Reeves and Luca. That doesn't actually make sense. So I'm fine with it on that record.

It also just kind of sucks, though, to just see him not retire a Laker. All those things, I would have dealt with the downside of the roster not making sense just to see my favorite player ever play for my favorite team in his farewell tour. That would have been cool. And it feels weird now to know he's going to play for another jersey. So there's that weird, like slightly strange side, even though I know it's the right choice that sucks. But overall, I care more about it as a like, oh, cool, what's next for LeBron? Then I do this sucks for the Lakers.

Yeah, it's so weird. This Lakers tenure was like had incredible highs and fucking lows when it comes to, he had his first major injury here back when he heard his groin back in what, 2018. The things are on Christmas time. Traited all those guys, Lonzo, Josh Hardin, all that for AD, went on the. their little run after that. It kind of blew up all in their faces because Rob Polinkin decided to trade for Russ. So, I mean, retrospectively,

I'm looking at his tenure there. I'm just like, wow. Okay? Championship. Multiple upper seeds in the Western Conference. You are one of the greatest secrets of all time. But to see it like fizzle out like this, of course, it's like slightly disappointing because I'm like,

what can the Lakers do? That's like better than what LeBron offers. Of course, it's like death, shooting, defense and an album an agclamation of that can make sense but i don't know if it's necessarily there because of all the other things that's happening how many guys have been like been snatched up an hour ago robert williams resound with the trailblazers which sucks because that's if that felt like a very realistic lakers target to be their center and that could have been part of that money that really sucks like i felt very confident that robert williams could have been a fallback

plan didn't even make the free agency andrew wiggins resigned on a very fair deal didn't even make the free agency that sucks because that could have been a lebron fallback plan And I wonder if they would have pursued that more if they knew LeBron didn't want to come back. So that's already unfortunate that we lost out on two clear-cut options there. I suppose it might end up just equaling paying Rui to come back. It might be the one-to-one drop-off

instead of giving LeBron $20 million, which is probably what they're going to offer him. They give that to Rui at $18 million or whatever. All right, I guess it's not the best outcome in the fucking world, but I guess that could be like, you know, understandable to some degree. Yeah. Well, so you said that you didn't think that it doesn't make sense for LeBron to be the third option to Luca or Reeves.

Yes. Do you think that Bron can go anywhere else and be the second option on a team that is like actually contending to win a title? Because if he can't, then I, then it kind of does make sense for him to be the third option. Just if we're just speaking from a basketball perspective, right? I don't, I don't know if there's a, if there's another spot where if it's Bron as the two, right? maybe the Warriors and the unction, maybe it works out, whatever. But that would have to be the situation. But I think at this point, if you are looking at Bronn and you say that he does have to be

the third option, then theoretically it should be a... It's a defensive issue more than offensive with the Lakers. That offensively third option he could work. If you have that backward, you want your third option in this circumstance to be a impact defender, I think, especially if he's a big wing. LeBronis can't do that anymore. So to your point, I do think there's probably an outlook out there where he could be the third option to two better offensive players.

Those guys need to be defensive slanted too, I think. Yeah. I think, I think part of it is like, I'm not going to take a pay cut for you guys. This is a show there was animosity there a little bit. I think, I think so. Because I think if you're willing to go somewhere else and take less money, knowing that obviously, like, the max is not out there for you. And you can, and for somebody that throughout his career has been very vocal about, I'm not. taking pay cuts. I'm not, I'm not going to be the one, you know, losing out on this money to go

from L.A. to go to state. Nothing in terms of like income taxes are changing or anything like that. So if you are going to take less money to do that, it is a very personal reason at that point and something that you want to do for your career. I do think that between all of the reporting that we've seen over the last year and some change about how the Lakers have felt about LeBron, about how the shift in power in the, the, shift in power in the, that organization has as gone, I do think that that shows the, just how, just how far apart the two sides were in their working relationship. Yeah, it shows the pride that people always said about LeBron that is understandable. He's LeBron James, that there's always this budding heads that

maybe he wants to have a certain say in power. That's always how it's been talked about. It probably really means he wants to be prioritized and wanted and cared about. And it's been pretty clear that in the past year since he got Luca that he's been pushed aside as an afterthought to some degree. And we theorize about how much he cares about that because on one hand, he is LeBron and has that ego understandably. On the other hand, you could say he's 42. He knows what's up. He understands that Luca is Luca. He has the understanding of the ecosystem of sports to know that his time being the guy's over. Maybe he's okay with it. This might just show he's super not okay with it. It turns out that the desire to be appreciated weighs out more, which is understandable.

And I think if I was Lebron too, I would understand not being okay with it. considering you were of course i shot to marcus mart shout to luca nar too but he was the driving force of upsetting the rockets he did have one more in him to get the lakers right back on track and this a ground so of course eventually get eviscerated by the o kc thunder but needless to say like he is like a staple of this team and i can understand why he felt disrespected yeah it's fairly understandable and you know people out there that hey lebron are going to have their debates on like he's a divo he needs to make way for the next generation whatever whatever you feel It doesn't really matter.

It's understanding about how we got to this point at the very least. Yeah. Okay, so, unction, is that where we're going? Is he going to end his career to Warriors?

That seems like the betting favorite. Do we want to see that? Jermann Green just put out a podcast earlier today with talking about I opted out for optionality and used a lot of verbiage that people were saying that like, we know what's up.

Yeah. We know what's up. We're putting the messaging out there. This is a clutch client, LeBron's guy. They're very like, we're making this push and making it clear what we're trying to do.

It seems all but, assured. There also report yesterday, that's good us off track, that LeBron would only be interested if they can get Anthony Davis. I don't want to see LeBron go there without Anthony Davis.

I'll say that. Same. I don't want to see LeBron Curry and Dr. Vermont necessarily. If it happens, I won't be pissed, but I don't really want to see it. If they find a way to get AD as well and it's full-on unction,

the two duos put together, at that point it's so cool, I'm okay with it. Yeah, and in my mind for LeBron, you only leave if you feel like you're going to a better team in a better situation that catered more towards you. And if 80 is coming with you, I'm on on board.

I hate the Warriors thing because of the rivalry and how it just like taints his not career necessarily, but the whole narrative, you know. But anyways, see, he's like. Let's talk about that. Let's talk about it. What a fuck is like him? Both of Magic Johnson retire with the Celtics. It's a little weird, right? I'm just saying.

It's a little odd. Step curve, one of the greatest recruiters of all times. Put him in charge of the Davidson football team. Let's get guys on the ground. This happens in NFL all the time. Doesn't happen to basketball all the time. And it is weird, though. It is weird if he ends up there because even LeBron going to the Lakers was super, super weird.

But you can understand it just because of how big the brand of the Lakers was. And there was an opportunity for him to do something massive, which is I'm going to be the guy to revive the Lakers. And I'm going to be the next star in line that is going to get the Lakers back to the promised land that we are going to have championship parades and banners and all that. and this team that has been, you know, just floating and basically just being bad for, for basically since Kobe, uh, tour his Achilles, I, like, it's okay. I'm here. To go from that and have that on the, in terms of, that could be the high end ceiling of the, of a positive outcome. In Golden State, I don't think that the ceiling in terms of what can define your legacy or like

another stamp that you could put on your resume. I don't know if that says high. And so for that, every single step of LeBron's career, because he is, because he is LeBron and every single step there was something else that he had to kind of, I guess, prove after 2016, not really, but whatever. This is very much a personal, I'm doing this for fun. And it doesn't seem like this has anything to do with a resume play, which is the first time in LeBron's career that it feels like that.

And in fact, it goes the opposite way. It is inviting criticism to go to the warriors, to go to your longtime rivals that you went to war with against, I should say. To go to Steph Curry, who is your greatest rival that at one point was viewed on equal footing as you in 2016 and beat you in 17 and 18. Like, this is a guy that not only did you have wars with, you lost a lot of those wars. And it had to be something that was like talked around in your legacy, you know, that like there's obviously context involved there, the teams and whatnot. But like in the grand scheme of like action figures bumping against each other, Curry beat you. You going to him, you have to understand that's going to invite criticism for the people that

have criticized you for everything you've done that's far less impactful than this. You are going to your biggest op when he is better than you when you were old and watched to go be his sidekick. He'll be a right. Yeah. For sure. I don't give a fuck. But you have to understand that you're inviting that.

Yeah. So that means he either doesn't care about that at all or thinks there's some route there to like make that be like cool and like claim it and have it be like. overall good moment that outweighs that criticism. And I do think, like, of course, the Olympus back in 24, like, had a lot to, that carries a lot between the relationship and how literally unstoppable on guardal they were even

at that old age that they were at. And things will look a little bit different because they're even older now, but I think there's a look a lot different considering AD potentially might be looming. And that, what, when it comes to narrative for me, narratives for me, that's what softens the blow a lot because it's like, oh, shit, y'all not only like actually buddy buddies, but y'all actually.

think you have a legit chance to win everything. And we've never seen Unks of this age up to this stature play together to this level. And I think they'd have a legitimate chance to win. Are they favorites? Not yet.

I have to see how they fell out the roster, but it'll be tough. They're just so old. And in an air where everybody gets hurt and that decides playoff runs. Like, I have to think that, of course, they believe they can make a run

and, you know, more power to them. They still have three superstars and Draymond Green that, like, they should believe they have a chance of their hell We should not believe they'll be healthy. So I think it's not a play to win a title. It's purely a play to have a moment, I think, right?

Like to have this combining of superstar duos. Yeah. I think every era, every decade has had this team in some sort of fashion. I think last decade we had the Brooklyn Nets with KG, Paul Pearson, and them dudes. In the 2000s, we had the Gary Payton, Carl Malone, Kobe, Shaq team. In the 90s, we had Chuck with the Rockets. I think this is our, the 2020s decade version of that.

Fair, that's a good comparison. Yeah, I'm glad you pulled it out. I didn't think about that. This is 04 Lakers for sure. Differences Shack and Kobe were Shack and Kobe. Curry and Jermot are not that anymore. It's more 90s rockets. Yeah.

If anything. But it's unique though because AD has obviously been dealing with his injuries. He's still AD to some extent. Maybe it's not like you can have a combo for top seven player in the world or anything. Maybe that's still he's not there. He's still a top 20 player in the world. He's not washed, you know? He's not in the situation where he can give you that type of production

that you lead on him as your best player, so the numbers won't be there to be one of the best players in the world. He is not physically cooked. Curry is not... He might be. He might be unavailable, which makes you physically whatever. When he's on the court, his capabilities are still in hand. It's like a beat, kind of...

To a less extreme degree, yeah, kind of. And honestly, I don't even know if we can even call him a beat because the injuries he's dealing with and the eye thing and the circumstance of the tanking team. He's in a pivotal point where maybe we look up and we say we overreacted, or maybe he's never available. I don't know for sure. Curry's still a top-themed player in the world.

They're better than, like, the Rocket version. Or I'll use the Nets. They're not the Nets, you know? They're not all cooked. It's a strange in-between version that I don't quite understand how to feel about. And that's all, like the difference maker to me is, like, AD's.

I said last episode that he's the biggest question mark in the entire league in terms of health, and he moves all the needles in the world. Like, if he can walk in and not necessarily be like Lakers, 80 or life, what he was, we last saw him in the Lakers. jersey because that's a long time ago but if he can give you like a smooth like 20 points per game while also be an all-N-B-A second-team level defender which I very much think is in the cards

moves everything for me because at that point in time you have arguably like three top 20 players on your team two d p.oi guys level level guys in jremont in ad you have a solid solid bench you got ghee you got pods be pos there as well um they're stacks they'll be stacked they'll be Clay Thompson now. Clay Thompson can come back too for the auction by the way. That'll be fun. That'll be fun.

If they do it, you have to get Clay as well. Make sure he gets bought out. Make him be a divo. Say I'm not going to play it here. Come back on the minimum. Why not? What is Rajan Rondo doing tomorrow? God damn.

Where is Rajan Rondo? Bring him to. I don't know. Am I going to another ring? Where is the Marcus Cousins? All right. Slow down. Dwayne Wade,

are you ready for the task? He's a little busy right now. Yeah. I think that... Richard Jefferson. No more telling jokes. Get ready to dunk. Yo, part.

No. Everybody has a line. You pass mine. Now, if they did do this, we're talking about going all in, going out and get clay. My hope for this team would that they would say, like, we're not dying our beards this year. That should be great Do LeBron's is great I can get behind that

You know how much beard die He ran through the regular season Yeah like I do think that if they If they if they if all of them Hey nobody is getting spray on On their hair line We're not we're not doing that Nobody is dying their their beards

We're gonna be like You know how in the in the bubble Nobody could get haircuts Like oh we're just gonna let our hair grow out You embrace your age to the maximum And that is gonna be the ethos of this team team because we're going to go in every single game. We know and we can't wrong with these 22-year-olds 48 minutes

tonight. We're going to out-think them. We're going to out-execute them. And we are going to make sure that they know we're here and this is the style of the game that we're going to play. And what if they do that and Raymond also do a retirement tour? That'll be tough. Actually, Curry probably won't.

Can you speak on that? Curry probably has a lot of money due to him still. So he probably won't. I'm going to cry. They can stretch that. It don't matter. He's probably not giving back. You think they'll announce it though?

I don't think anybody in the, NBA is giving back Steph Curry type money. It took $100 million he goes on his contracts. Let me check exactly. I thought it was like, I would not do it. Let me see. I thought it was like 60. I thought I had one more left.

Either way, it could be $5 million. I don't think a lot of people are giving up. Yeah, I don't think a lot of people are giving up. Oh, wait, no. It's the last year of his contract. Bro. He has like 60 mil on his contract or something. Just the last year, 30 years old.

What if they do the all being gray beard and then they say Steph, Dr. Mona, LeBron, are all retiring after this year. This is our last dance together. It's what I've been saying. I don't want to make the comparison I made last time, but yes, that's what I've been saying. Wow. It sucks if they're doing it on courage turf. That's the growth.

Why? Shut up. Shut up. I just have the question. I can get behind this. Will it be an amazing team? Fuck no. Will it be like a perfect end to LeBron's career? Fuck no.

I can get behind that unique storyline in history. That's all I'm saying. In the house that Curry built? Where's the house that Brown built? I'm just saying like there's a there's a natural, there's a natural space to host the unction. No one cares about these conversations. Not everybody,

not everybody's home is built for, maybe if they're at Oracle, I believe you. Yeah, that's, well, no. Chase is built off of, all this step, Curry. Fair, okay. True.

Okay, if that's the plan, I can get behind it. We shouldn't assume Curry is going to retire. If this happens, I'm going to be so insufferable to you. But if, He gets five and he gets finals MVP. Ooh, gonna be on the same. They're not in the finals. Let's not even go there.

Nah. No. No, if AD is in play, then they're not winning the finals. Anything is, if 80 isn't played, then that moves me. You can, you can tell me anything. Yes. You can tell me. If AD is there, you can tell me anything.

I will know. I'm a mo, man. Y'all got to shut the hell up. That is the ultimate roll the ball out, too. Let's roll the ball out. Let's roll the ball out. See what the fuck happens. Let's go.

Bro, we're talking about playing in June. And you said if AD is, is there. Ten months of basketball. That is insanely hard. Also, KPs there already. It's going to be the most dangerous eight C. They trade his ass right now. Shut up. Yes. They're going to load

manage out the whole season. Most dangerous eight seat of all time. How, okay. There's something there. It happens. This isn't an actor. They're probably going to try to like toggle them and make sure like everybody plays two weeks at a time. Yeah. Okay. It happens. Function. Steph. Steph. LeBron. Draymond. A.D. How many games do they win?

52. How many games do they play? 53. No, just the team because I can't, I can't go individually. I like their bench a lot. I do like their bench.

A lot. Considering like all the stuff going on. Yeah. Okay, so they'd have Santos, Horford, KP, Gary Payton. I'm assuming KP will be gone of 80s there. Yeah.

KP just resigned. He's not going anywhere. He just resigned. They'd have to like, pull it back the offer or like make him a sign and trade. You're not going to do that to an agent. That'd be bad business.

Signing a trade. Fuck that. They're not doing that. He doesn't stay there. He's going to be Jimmy Bellar for AD, like pretty straight up. They need another ball handler off the bench. You need a backup point guard there. Let's presume Clay is going to be there too.

Do you need one more, one more ball handler, I think? B-pods? Chris Paul, where you at? Low-key. Low-key. I'm assuming B-Pots is a starting shooting guard in that conversation. You know, Chris Paul, there would be kind of shameless. The average age of this team is going to be 38 years old.

I know. And you know what? So you can't be an old team in like a normal sense and really like feel good about it as we see by the Warriors of most recent years and when you are that type of team your most important players are your top two or three or like 35 plus

it's just not they don't have the oomph to give it to you because your supporting cast probably isn't going to be a leader or anything but when you go all the way and you're the oldest team and have this many guys that don't have but are obviously who they are maybe it can work maybe I can sell myself and like you truly, truly

commit to the vision, go all the way with this, that like, you cross a threshold of just IQ and age and ability of a know-how that maybe it could work. It's not a normal team anymore. This is why they drafted Yaxel. Exactly. Because they knew they were going with the ocean.

They need it. Oh, and I forgot. I forgot Yaxil exists. Yo, maybe they could win 55 games. Yeah. I was just about to say they need some young guy who could just jump out the gym and be like, fucking Caminga, bring him back.

We just declined his off for the Hawks did. But no, they got Yaxil, you're right? Also, he's a lake. by the way as fuck unfortunately somebody reported yesterday that the lakers have a name in mind to replace lebron if he leaves i guarantee you that motherfucker is jonathan kumingo is gonna hate his life i don't know i think offensively they'd like each other defensively i'll lose my mind watching those who play defense together but like i guarantee you kamingos a laker which is so infuriating but offensively it could work i get that's good for that's good for kaminga to be in that ecosystem

i'm sure he'll cut and do well for him and whatnot so 55 games yeah i think you went 55 games that team Let me check the standing Is that crazy? So 55 games this past year Would have put you at the 3C I think that could maybe It puts you above Denver Because Denver won 54 games this year

And then San Antonio and OKC won 62 and 64 So call 53 let's just say they're below Denver You're the Lakers Yeah I'm putting them around 51 and 53 Yeah I'm really saying 52 We can stick with that for not to not do too much Okay That's a 52 win team

Yeah a 50 The Rockets won 52 games. Oh, yeah. Yeah. This could be the Rockets. Hell yeah. Okay.

I don't have any fit concerns, right? Like, it's really like out. No, not really. Well, okay, so it might play out differently, obviously. It's weird, but they can make it work. Playing in, playing in NBA basketball versus Olympic basketball, obviously. And it's also different because, mind you, listen, they were down. Them doves is down 17 to Serbia.

Yeah. It can get scary on a Tuesday night. Don't let Can't Boozer and Zachie to get hot. On a Tuesday night in Memphis, y'all have had bad sleep at the hotel. All of a sudden, Kareem Lopez is his hooping. It could get dicey very big quickly. So, like, I can see the 52 wins. I can see maybe 48, but I do think that the, which you said, the scariest eight seed.

And they will have, regardless of how many games that they win, I think as long as they're in the top six, they will have that moniker to them. Yeah. Of you don't want to see them in a playoff series for four straight games or for seven games. Hell yeah. Is it a given he's going to the Warriors? There's all this smoke out there.

Do you guys see any other option on the table? Because we've heard nothing about the Cavs as a return home thing. Which sounds to me like probably what that means is the Cavs aren't super interested because the precarious situation they're in and they're just like not talking about it publicly because they're not going to put it out there.

The LeBron wants to go back to his hometown team and his hotel team doesn't want him. That would be a bad look for everybody involved. So I wouldn't assume the calves are on the table. But maybe they are. Maybe it's simple and they're going to just be like, yeah, why not? But if he goes there and if they're not doing the sign and trade, then he has to sign a million.

John Delle one-year contract with the Hawks. Give me your instant reaction. $14 million a year. $14 million to the Spurs. That's always my fucking favorite. I love that fucking vision, bro. He can't do that. That's a lot of money, by the way, for Jackalando.

How much? 14 million a year. It's only one year, though. So it's a trade. straight asset, I guess. Yeah, it doesn't really matter. We have to spend money. We reject Camiga.

It doesn't matter. Whatever. But yeah, okay, so do you guys think other outcomes are available? I love him on the Spurs. It makes complete sense. I don't understand why. It'll be way less shameless. And also, too.

It's been more shameless. Way more shameless. Why? Hoping on the coattlers of the new goat? Bro, the Spurs have always been like, whenever LeBron was a free agency, hit free agency back in 2018, the Spurs are always like someone relevant.

Man, he was never going to say. I'd rather him go to the Knicks and they're champions. That's nasty, bro. You don't think it'll be fun as fuck watching him coach up all these young guys in Harper and Harper and Castle. Do I think he's fun? No. Fun as fuck. I love that.

I want these young guys have their own growth arts. Me too, me too. Personally. Would it be cool? Like, yeah, it would be cool on a given like the first round playoff series to see LeBron and Webby together. There'd be some coolness there. There'd be a lot of like having to tell ourselves it's not weird. It's not lame.

There's some downsides. What's lame about it? they just made the finals and you are jumping on their bandwagon I don't care about the bandwagon part because it's a retirement thing but just like you know clearly he cares about shaping the story of his career

and he's elected to go with his long time op he would be very cognizant of the fact that he's going to the next goat guy who's supposed to be the guy that challenges his legacy one day like he would be wanting to attach himself to that story and have that be like a passing of the torch moments

which I don't think is I see your point I don't think I don't think is ridiculous and are the spurs not also on that op list he played him three times in the finals he's one he's no he's there anymore it's pop isn't even there like it's just a jersey at this point I think

I don't think it was a real thing too Tim Doug in there all the time you know stuff Curry's actually playing on the team there was no real like static static though it's always respect we open your ass and that's it we're going home I don't think it's like actual real rival

Either way I don't think San Antonio is the place I don't think I think Golden State would be the one Rich Paul said 10 to 12 teams reached out Is there a world where this goes to a surprise team? teams made a fallout. I'm sure too. I'm sure he didn't give a fuck about nine of him. Is there a world where a surprise team he goes to for basketball reasons?

We're talking about narrative reasons. Yeah. The timber world doesn't need to power forward. Is there a world where he looks at that and says, I can win a championship? LeBron? Going from L.A. to Minnesota? Fair. I think that's, he'll have to do a lot. If I'm LeBron, I'd rather, like, prior to somewhere like Denver, if it was possible, if they somehow, like, sell off on Aaron Gordon. Their jersey is too ugly.

LeBron can't wear those terrible jerseys. I don't think he's going I don't think he would have to make up a lot He's not leaving California Yeah see that's the thing It's been assumed he's gonna choose Like practicality in life And like location and like what his family wants Which it's not even assumed

He said as much that I'm choosing what my family wants And what makes sense for this part of my career They've already chose not living in LA anymore Or at least their dad not living in LA I'm sure they'll still stay there you know Is they want to be next to Bryce Arizona? Yo you know what's so funny

I just saw the son? Yeah Oh true No I would fucking I'll pierce my eyeballs off him and Dylan Brooks He's gonna have

He's gonna have He's gonna say I don't want to say Just know I would do something drastic Yeah I would be irate If he played for the suns That would be the most disgusting image Yeah

Of all time That is the new Celtic shack But like ten times worse Just gotta go to the statement Please Please Also we're saying that he's staying In California

Like there's not another California team Anyways Sacramento King Because he damn should I go on the Clippers Oh no God forbid. Can't happen.

You know what makes it funny though? He'll put that purple jersey on, bro. Ew. He doesn't like going to Sacramento. You'd buy that. He probably thinks Sacramento is the slums. I mean, for other reasons.

For other reasons. You tell him to move to Sacramento, he seemed like, bitch, ew. Like he's in a tree like it's the fucking gutter. Which is why I do think, yeah, go to say it's probably, probably the Draymont, once Draymond opted out,

that for me was, oh, this is happening. Especially because they're on the same fucking label. Label. Dremon is not, you are not third. 36 years old as Draymond Green, who's already had some of the back and forth

with the Golden State Warriors, being in trade talks, and now all of a sudden you're declining a player option to do something good for the team? No, that is directly related to something that you wanted to do and something that you feel is in your best interest. As soon as that happened, that was my sign that the unction is going to happen in Golden State.

I don't think Draymond, we're talking about all these guys, you know, giving up money and doing all this stuff. You know who's not giving up, giving back money? Draymond Green, right? Steph Curry and LeB. James are two different levels in terms of the money that they have made. Real quick. Chris Haynes, at Chris B. Haynes,

who is a good reporter. Respect Chris Haynes. speaks for the people giving the sources very clearly. Tapton is what we said. Sure. He's used as a vessel by the sources, in my opinion. Not to disrespect Chris Haynes. Good a job.

I think it's very clear where his source is. come from, right? This is the most extreme version that he just tweets, Cleveland Cavaliers have expressed interest in his second reunion with LeBron James with the appeal of the franchise's greatest player finishing his career where it all started. The Cavs won him. Guess who told them this?

The Cavs. Yeah. And that makes obviously the most sense in the world. They don't have a clear cuff. They're looking for them. Makes sense. So let's talk about that outcome. You know, I think we have to, in this moment in this emergency episode,

let's talk through all the realistic outcomes because about the time we record on Thursday, he may have chosen his team by now. We all know what we feel about the Junction, the Warriors. Sounds like we're all kind of okay with it in the grand scheme of things. Cabs. He can get money if he cares about that.

Get some bread. He can get some bread. They can send me a Max Drews, send me a Jared Allen, something of the sort, right? Or he can go for cheap and go there and try to form a great team with James Harden,

Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jared Allen. I think Donovan Mitchell can benefit so much with playing alongside the Bronjames. And it'll, I guess, like, it'll be worth keeping this core, this trio together between Jared Allen, Evan Mobey, and Donovan Mitchell. And I guess, whatever hardened to. No, I just realized. What happened? They tweeted they want him.

I mean, they informed Christians. They want him, right? Which basically they tweeted. They want him. Which means they want him. Like, they know the realistic paths of getting him with that intention. You can't start those five players together in a basketball sense. You cannot have a tenable defense with LeBron James at your three with two traditional

bids and two non-defense guards. I don't think. That LeBron needs to be like a power forward on defense. It's like a good rim protector with point of attack defenders. Like in that lineup is LeBron your go-to wing stopper? You're going to kill him. Do they want to offload Jared Down's contract? Like I've always been like, I want Jaredown so bad as a Lakers fan because it's perfect, obviously.

Do they want that? Like, because... you're forgetting a possibility. Otherwise they get him on the minimum and he comes off the bench. They're re-signing Trey Hardin? I don't think so. But I don't think so

because they're not going to let Garland be like throwing away for one year of old man James Harding. So they'll re-sign him for sure. They're going to keep D. Mitches. They're going to keep Mobley unless. But like do they want to get rid of one of those big men? Otherwise, I don't really understand the vision

on the court because you can't look at the coach and be like, you got to start these five players together that clearly don't make sense. You don't feel. like sometimes like teams just put the basketball of it all aside just for legacy sake not really i think uh the lakers kind of did it with cobi's retirement tour yeah but they're a shitty team yeah because they're they were these teams in the conference finals that don't mean nothing it means a lot like this team needs to win that bish who's like on this pivotal point of

his career like this course they're in the conference finals they can't just throw that away for nostalgia unless you give them a minimum contract and like it doesn't matter because you can just like give them like 25 minutes a game or whatever yeah but i don't think lebron wants that And I think they know LeBron doesn't want to be minimized even more. So what's the implication that they want him on their team? They probably, there is the outcome of them just saying it so that you can say face and say, we want LeBron. Do they're lying?

Potentially. Okay. Or they could be real and they could, but they're not, they're not as serious in terms of the lengths that they would go to to get LeBron. And you think that's the case? Maybe. Okay. Because I agree with you. I think it is a bad look if if LeBron is going through this whole process and then it comes

out. It's like the Cleveland Cavaliers are rejecting the idea of LeBron Jays coming back. And then everyone looks up as like, who are you? Like you're the Cleveland Cavaliers. I think it's okay for them to save face and be like, we wanted LeBron, but he went to the unction boat. We Cleveland Cavaliers did our job trying to bring LeBron back. Fair.

That's a solid read of it, which is maybe likely. Let's entertain the outcome that that's not the case. if they do want him, what would you do to make that happen? Of all the things I outline, the struggles that come with that, monetarily.

This is the problem. And this is why, this is why, as we're talking through, I don't think that the CAV thing is real because... LeBron sees that. He tells you,

I want to come to the Cavs. What do you do? You make it work. You have to make it. Because you don't put that out there and it be a lie. Maybe you calculated away put it out there

because you don't think I want to come back. Let's say he sees that tweet and he calls up Altman. He's like, I want to come back and retire there. what did you do about that honestly it's gonna be it's gonna be bad business

in my opinion you did bad business the moment you sent garland out Harding can't be there because I don't I don't think that you can have I don't think you can sign and trade Allen and and bring LeBron and now you have Hardin D Mitch and Bronn

and Mobley like they're kind of already all on the fence about Jared Allen regardless and they're so like up and down on him and I think in the next way to possibly evolve Evan Mobley is like Jared Allen. I agree. And I think that's probably the smartest way to go about it. If you already like got embarrassed in the Eastern Conference finals.

Do you put in Brown at the four? Yeah. And I think I glazed Jared Allen a lot and I have for years. And I feel like in our audience and with us, I've kind of set the tone of being very pro Jared Allen. So we think about him as a great player. I agree. Us three think about him as a good player.

And I haven't given us any room to criticize him really because I love Jared so much. I don't think the rest of the league, and maybe not the Cavs, rate him as, like, the clear top 10 center we do. So maybe there's a world where to us that's like, what the fuck, he made an all-star team. This guy's awesome. Luke would change his life. Maybe they don't care if Luke changes his life. They don't care if they lose that value. Maybe they do think that Evan Mobley needs to be a center and this is an outcome to get off of money in some way. Like, maybe that is like reasonable to them. He's analytics guys. I've been moving differently lately. Maybe he's the seventh best player

on the team. I don't know. What the fuck? Maybe Max Drews is the real key there to start. Yeah, I just, I just, I just, I just, that rating saying. I don't know. Basically I'm trying to say is maybe I'm not crazy for doing the my bad,

my bad, not me right way to use that rating. Maybe that like I'm trying to wish the Lord, I don't think into existence. Maybe I'm not being ridiculous

though. Maybe it is very like practical if he wants to go to the Cavaliers. And also too, I mean like if he was to be inserted to the Cavaliers

it's not like the Knicks are guaranteed or any team of the Eastonoffice is guaranteed to make it back to the finals. And I think

him on this Cleveland Cavalier's team does give him like probably the best shot back to the finals, the easy shot back to the finals, of course, considering the talent there. So you start Max Truce, the three. He's your defender.

Is that a good team? Moby at the five, which would make him a better score, I think giving him to be like the true pick and roll guy. LeBron is a stretch four who can do playmaking passing cup stuff, throwing big to big lobs to Mowbly. The heart end of it all makes it look complicated.

It's probably a good team, right? No, it is. It is. Donovan Mitchell's role is going to be weird. I can see him going sliding back into like 20 point per game similar to what he was like two years ago. 20? Yeah, there's a lot of mouth.

What the wrong? What did it? Two years ago, Demitabbers 20? 21. Oh, that he did when he was like. Yeah,

when he was like, yeah, something like that. Okay, okay. When he made like All-N-BIA first team or whatever. He wasn't high 20s for. Yeah, I was like 20. What?

Okay, but yeah, but yeah, but yeah, probably was like 22 and a half, 23. I see what you mean. Yeah,

exactly. And I only said, expecting a leap from Evan Mobley which probably would have We should stop. We should stop expecting that. Elite meaning he's going to get like 19 a game. From 18 to 19.

Yeah, I think he'll be Evan Mobley but at center so it'll be a little prettier because it'll be easier at the rim, right? Exactly. That's good. He stood up straight. That's too much. Hop is too much.

You just stood up straight. He fixed his posture. Yeah. Is that a good team? Can we say that team could win the East? Yeah, I think you put a lot less pressure on James Hardin to make decisions and you can just send them. Then what is he for?

What is he for? He's not here to make decisions. They, man. They, okay, so they can. I guess they can because if you're the Cavs, part of the reason that a lot of people didn't trust you is because D. Mitch was playing D. Mitch ball at the end of the season, James Hardin is turning into James Hardin. And like, you don't really have anybody that you.

felt could settle the offense. And also, too. He can, Hardin can be like a pseudo backup point guard and they'll always have a good decision maker on the floor. Like, they try the whole Lonzo thing. That shit blew up in their fucking face. And back then, of course, with Darius go on the bench. Not, not off the bench, but I'm saying they're always going to have a great decision

maker on the floor. Yeah, you'll talk with them a lot. And like, yeah. Yeah. They can just because like the Celtics are in flux. We'll see what the next roster looks like. Detroit is taking a, you know, perceived step back. We'll see what happens with Jalen Dern.

So there's a lot, you know, in the East. Hey, man, Miami might be here top of the peace. Hell not. I might have to walk back. Like, I'm looking at what's happening over the first week of free agency. Hey, man, you make one more move. And it's like, okay, we're kind of here. Charlotte traded lamello?

The Cavalry. Toronto's Toronto. They both get Kau, by the way. That's going to happen. Yeah. So they're going to be good, too. The East is the whole one. It's Lebrons.

is LeBron supercharged the cabs, maybe the East is on or something. You got to start up the other narratives. You couldn't hang out West. Had I had to go back to the East. We got anywhere you go, buddy. Let's go. We're back. We're so back.

They ran about the conference. These are probably the too much likely outcomes, right? That'll be quick. Probably. What's better? As a fan of the game, a fan of LeBron who wants to see a good end to your childhood player's career, what would you rather see these two options? I think the war is because even though that I don't think,

think that they're going to win a title. I don't think that either of those teams would win a title. I think seeing him alongside the other greats of the era. Unique moment. Would be a little bit better and a little bit more unique than going back to Cleveland for a third time and playing to James Hardin in a closeout game. But it's also just clean to go to Cleveland. Like, that's a good bow on the story, you know?

Yeah. I think how you go out is super important, but also the problem. process in that too. And as a hardcore LeBron fan, I would have way more fun with him shooting the shits with Steph versus watching James Harden just give you like seven for or three for 18 shooting and a random night consistently in the playoffs. You guys are harping on Hardin too much. I think he's not he's not Shane Larkin. He the thing is hardened with elimination game. Yes, he is. And that's the problem. He's Elia Cobo in elimination games. Oh my God. It's even worse than It's bad.

And the vibes off and out, I don't, I can't live like that. He might be the worst elimination game player of all time. And I think that dealing with dealing with that. And like the last time that you were in Cleveland, you were in the finals and you brought them a championship in 2016. I think that that, and like you went back putting aside all of the other stuff that happened in 2010 or 2011 with the Dan Gilbert of it all. I feel like that that era is as bowed up as possible. And I think that going back, for lack of a better word, it would be kind of greed because just because like that,

that story's done. Yeah, that story's done there. Fair. And so you can go somewhere else. And as LeBron has moved in his career, there's been certain points where it has been fairly unique. And so I think going to Golden State, while if it doesn't go well,

and then we get, you know, these random pictures on Getty of LeBron wearing the Warriors jersey and it will look nasty. There is a possibility that it is some super fun and just memorable season that we all look back on. Yeah. Okay. So we know the two options for LeBron. We'll see how this evolves the day goes on. Also, Dave McMahon just tweeted a source close to James told ESVN.

It was time to move on. And that's the best way to wrap that up. It was time to move on ultimately. that every time we talked about him staying with the Lakers, it was justifying why it could make sense, but it was time to move on. Now, Lakers, I mentioned Robert Williams, off the table,

Andrew Wiggins off the table. They are seemingly going to throw all the money in the world at either Walker, Cessler, or Dern, and hope they can poach one of those guys. We talked about the plans for how to make this team, go to the next era. Usually LeBron was involved. What do you want to see them do now,

knowing LeBron's not involved? It's still the same thing. It's still Giet Kessler. and there's literally no excuse to like not get a center of your future whether it's or during. I think I would. Well, the excuse is the restrictive free agents

and it's not up to you ultimately. True. Of course. And that outcome without those guys, Mitchell Robinson? So now, maybe, now that Brown isn't going to be there, you just signed Reeves to this extension.

You know Luca is there for your future. I think that it gives you just a little bit more time. Obviously, Luca is great and he can elevate a lot of people, and him and Reeves are a fantastic duo, but you need to go on basketball reference and bring up the 24 Mavs and have that entire roster top down on a whiteboard.

And on the other side of the whiteboard, you draw an arrow, and you need to have an equivalent to every single player on that roster. And that is how you build this team, moving forward. And it doesn't have to happen in this offseason. Yes, it does.

Stop there. Yes, it does. The fullness of it, I don't think so. Yes, it does. I think if you can, obviously, it's great and you don't want to, you don't want to waste time. I don't, they are, they're not in a situation where it's this year or bust. You just signed your backboard of the future. Yes, it is.

They're absolutely a decision where you have Luca Donchich. You had a gap year after you traded for him in mid-year. All they've talked about is a summer of 2026 of the year. We're going to give you this gap summer and this gap year because 26 the year. LeBron held them hostage. That's what they're going to say. That's fucking ridiculous. LeBron did this before free agency started.

That's what they're going to say. No, what they're going to say is Walter is an. walk down the aisle and he's going to see mediocre team. He's going to go to Polinkas office and say you're fucking fired. This is the, they literally have to be the 24 Mavs after the summer or I guarantee you Plinkas fired. With the new owner, they must put together a team that we can at least say can be the three seed in any given series.

They have a chance because they have Luke and Reeves. That is a bare fucking minimum or I guarantee you Polina is fired. Yeah. If you don't do that, then you just let LeBron go for no fucking reason, you know? Not even that. You got Luca Dottich for no fucking reason and you're wasting his time. You're wasting one of the greatest players. all times prime of his career.

When you let Brongo and they didn't really let Brongo. Brown left. Exactly. LeBron doesn't matter in this equation at all, by the way. It doesn't matter even a little bit. You have to prioritize Luca Donchich. LeBron is irrelevant. If you waste Lucas Prime, you are terrorists to one of the greatest players of all time,

ruining his prime. And now we have two straight franchises that didn't know to build around him. Ridiculous. Well, actually, the maps knew how to build around him. Then they didn't want to anymore. Yes. But they also waste a lot of years before they got there. But they did the thing.

They built around them. They just had a different direction. Sure, but we can't forget the four years before that when they were fucking spinning their wheels and bullshit as well. So it took a while to figure out. They figured it out. And we don't got a while for this time. They have to do it now.

So hopefully that means a $35 million poaching of Walker Kessler. I guess now retaining Rui, hopefully retaining smart now that it's been rumored that he's going to go to the Rock is because they don't want to give him a three-year deal. Hopefully losing LeBron when clearly they had an idea of keeping LeBron. Hopefully that motivates him to keeping smart. They have to identify a. crew of players that is a culture and is a core and we're not going to have you over your turnover. I need to see multiple players get three year contracts. So we have some type of team that exists for

more than one year. And you know what? I'll go ahead and take it a step further because all those names out there obviously aren't the absolute sexiest outside of Walker Kester and what he could do defensively for them. I need you to make a trade also this offseason. A new pick just got thrown into your hands as well. I need you to unload the clip and really establish yourself in the Western Conference, officially, in this, like, Luca Donch's AR-led era. Unload it. What's unfortunate is I think they're going to get one of those big men if it's Kessler, they're going to have to do a sign and trade and probably give one of their

two tradable first-on picks to the jazz. So I'm assuming you get them a pick and a swap to make them not match Kessler. That's probably realistic. Let's say that happens. Let's say they retain Rui, retain smart, and they give their mid-level exception to Quinn Grimes, like, theorized. you have Dalton Connect

Jake Laravia Aiton and Vando as tradable salaries one first round pick you can get like one more good player one and that's your team damn really

they just fucked no not necessarily because I think if you outline that let's say they get Grimes smart and Rui and Kessler with the CapSpace

plus mid-level keep Aiton as a backup center try to trade Vando Jake and DK that's like 20 million you can get the first round pick get Herb Jones. Let's say it's that. Okay. If Herb Jones is throwing into the conversation, then that moves me a little bit because

I'm still looking for like a very stout wing defender who can do it all and they just don't have that at all. I'll say Herb Jones, that's obviously what I'd like. Yeah. And he's been out there to not make me sound greedy. Let's say Lou Dort, who I don't want them to get up a first time pick for Lou Dord. That's probably like very realistic. Shout out Lou. Heavly heavily protected first round pick. They were looking at a team that's Reeves. Let's say you start Lou Dort. Luka. broie hot tomorrow and walker kessler and your bench is marcus smart queen grimes camera car adieu thiro d'y andr adjutant that's not a bad team okay aiden off the bench is very solid

that's a good value we obviously hate aden as your franchise center yeah that's a 10 man rotation right there yeah brawny 11th man unless he goes to go and state with it and if you go into the next season like that then i can think i think you can roll into the year being like okay we did the best we could and they genuinely didn't i feel good with that i think i feel good with that you know what that team yeah now that involves you them obviously decided to retain smart deciding to retain Rui and above all else

Danny Aange letting them get Walker Kessler which is far from a guarantee if that doesn't happen what I just outlined you take away Kessler you put him goddamn Mitchell Robinson which means you probably start Aiden

and Mitchell Robinson comes off the bench these split minutes spooky It's very different Very different Yikes It's a big summer man Polinka

Deliver you're fired Yeah that's what it is Damn Yeah, man. How do we feel about that team outline, though? Would that be a good team? Probably just because Luca and they are really good together and they can carry.

But, I mean, you're still going to get obviously the up and downness of A-N. I think it'll be fine. It'll be good. It's solid. It's solid, actually. Now I'm thinking about it. That's not realistically, they're not getting all that stuff. Everything great isn't going to happen for them.

But, like, though the hard part is they're not going to have smart and grimes. They're going to lose smart, which is frustrating as fuck. They're probably going to lose him. And instead of smart grimes, it's going to be like. That might be okay, though, to have a, like... To lose smart. In two years. Yeah, we'll live.

It's okay. It sucks because it Rob Linker, everything he does gets criticized because he's incompetent, but it would suck in the moment. Okay, well, that's the type of team we're looking at, assuming they get Walker Kessler. That's the post-Lebron pivot. Yeah. Damn, it's really over. Who's a better team?

That version of Lakers or the Unction Warriors? Unction. Unction. Unction. I wouldn't pick them up. In a playoff series, I'm not picking the auction. I think in a playoff series I would pick the unction

But in the regular season I would lean towards the Warriors I picking Luke in a playoff series My bad In the playoffs regular season Not regular season I would lean towards The Lakers for sure Because AR and Luca are just like

Mad Young and they have fresh legs Do whatever the fuck it is Meanwhile the Warriors are just You know they'd be coasting They'll be cozy for sure We gotta end this This whole thing With the

With the Just a slew of like LeB songs like that tries to be man on the Lakers LeBron LeBron LeBron Damn man Lebron left the son behind

But he did wait until like last night That's what they're going to say He's an absent father man No man Bromian his contract Brony's contract officially became guaranteed That 2.3 million things

You think there's coincidence You think it's coincidence It's till the next day Hell not I got you Brony One more favor You're on your own bread Rich Paul's a smart man

Shout to that man Yep. So that's our reaction. Instant emergency episode to LeBron James News. We'll see if we have more for you guys by Thursday when our main episode for the week drops. What an end of an era? You're going to cry? Fuck no. You're so ungrateful, man. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, if I'll cry if I'll cry if I don't get Walker Kessler.

He saved Laker's basketball. He cried for Walker Kessler and not, bro. Yeah, yeah, you're disgusting. He saved Lakers basketball. Why would I cry? It's an end of an era. You know it was a good era. It came to an end. It's not like it got ended abruptly. The shit went out with a whimper. Like they, he, he got old, they didn't have a good run at the end. Rob Polinka ruined it. Obviously, I've already cried because Rob Polinka killed it with Russell Westbrook

Trade. So I'm past the grief. I've been watching a dead corpse of an era for like two years, feeling like less of a person for it. Now it's finally over. You know what they say, right? What do they say? Don't be sad that it happened.

No, mind, I fucked it up. Don't be sad that it's over. Be happy that it happened. I'm crying. I saw the wheels turn. They went, I forgot what they said. I'm not going to.

They said some shit. I'll see you all Thursday. Type shit. Type shit.