Knicks Have Financial Flexibility To Trade For LeBron James In Summer Without Losing Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby

According to NBA insiders Bobby Marks and Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the New York Knicks have the financial flexibility to trade for LeBron James this summer without losing Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby.

LeBron has a player option worth $51.4 million for next season with the Los Angeles Lakers. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer could pick up his player option and work out a trade with the Lakers if the purple and gold don’t make the 2024 playoffs. 

The Lakers are currently in ninth place in the West. They would have to win two play-in tournament games to qualify for the 2024 postseason if the season ended today. 

Knicks president Leon Rose used to be LeBron’s agent. LeBron met with the Knicks when he was a free agent in the summer of 2010. The King left the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat to play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. 

“The Knicks, however, have the financial flexibility below both aprons to trade for James without losing Brunson and Anunoby,” Marks and McMenamin wrote. “New York has five players (Julius Randle, Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson, Bojan Bogdanovic and Donte DiVincenzo) earning a salary between $11.5 and $30.3 million. They also have up to eight tradable first-rounders to include in a deal.”

LeBron is averaging 25.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and 7.9 assists this season while shooting 52.7% from the field, 40.7% from beyond the arc and 73.2% from the free-throw line. He’s still an elite player despite being the oldest player in the NBA. 

When the Lakers played the Knicks in New York in February, LeBron was asked by a reporter if he ever thought about playing for the Knickerbockers. 

“During my free agency period in 2010, it was one of the teams that I looked at,” LeBron said. “So I’ve had that thought in my career.”