Report: Knicks won’t pursue LeBron James next summer

What do you get if you put LeBron James and the New York Knicks in the same headline? Clicks, that’s it.

Kudos to our distant friends from The Athletic for doing exactly that and allowing us to follow suit here by echoing their “sourced” information.

Following the late January/early December drama involving James, the Lakers, an hourglass emoji, Knicks-themed sneakers, and a sweated towel, we came to add another chapter (not the final one, rest assured) to the LBJ-to-whoknowswhere saga on Wednesday as Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN revealed a trade-deadline all-in attack made by the Golden State Warriors in order to acquire James via trade “over a clandestine 24-hour window.”

The original ESPN report included absolutely, categorically, factually, and numerically zero references to the New York Knicks. It was all about the Dubs and the Lake Show, Joe Lacob (GSW owner) and Jeanie Buss (LAL owner), LeBron James and Steph Curry, Northern California and Southern California.

But of course, there is never a bad time for #KnicksForClicks, amirite Sam Amick?

Going straight to what matters here, which is the follow-up story published by The Athletic expanding on ESPN’s report, Amick (I assume, as he’s the only author on the story not beat-reporting from the GSW/LAL sides of things but rather a league-wide perspective) reported: “The Knicks do not appear to be one of [James’ suitors].”

Wrote Amick (emphasis mine):

“Despite all the focus on James’ recent trip to New York, where he sent all sorts of pro-Knicks signals that sparked speculation about that Broadway-worthy possibility, a league source indicated the Knicks’ brass has not discussed the prospect of adding James.

“Not only does the team lack the requisite salary cap space necessary to make room for James this summer, but the idea of the Knicks making moves to free up that sort of money would be seen internally as a serious setback to their long-term plan.

“While that could always change, it’s telling that the Knicks didn’t respond to James’ myriad messages by heading straight for the proverbial war room to figure out a plan to bring him to the Big Apple.“ — Sam Amick, The Athletic

Following the tweet sent to the free world by James at the end of January following a Lakers loss to the Hawks, Los Angeles kept their Grammy Road Trip going and bounced back with three consecutive wins at Boston, New York, and Charlotte.

From that loss to Wednesday’s victory against Utah to cap the pre-ASW portion of the season, Los Angeles has gone 5-1 even though they ultimately didn’t move on from LeBron nor completed any other transaction before the trade deadline. That said, the Lakers landed Cali native point guard Spencer Dinwiddie after he was bought out last weekend.

James’ tactic of showing up to Madison Square Garden wearing Knicks-colored shoes, as well as his postgame use of a Knicks-branded towel, was simply a strategy to apply some pressure (per Briand Windhorst of ESPN via Justin Terranova of the New York Post) on the Lakers’ front office ahead of the deadline, a move that didn’t quite pay off for LBJ if he was, in fact, letting them know they should pull the trigger and complete a trade for a superstar (most probably Dejounte Murray).

The Knicks never tried to trade for James last week, and now we also know (at least according to Amick’s sources) that New York isn’t really planning to put together a plan to land him next summer when he might enter July as a free agent if he declines his player option on June 29, two days after the 2024 NBA draft is over.

If you’re wondering why that two-day span is important, well, then let me tell you that a certain Son of LeBron is expected to declare for the upcoming draft after spending one season playing college ball at USC. He goes by the name of Bronny, just in case, and his pops has made it clear that he’d love to pull off a Griffey playing along with him in the Association.

“I need to be on the floor with my boy,” LeBron said about a year ago, ”I got to be on the floor with Bronny.”

So... draft Bronny, get LeBron? Maybe, maybe not.

According to Amick and in-the-known Lakers beat reporter Jovan Buha, Los Angeles “has not intention of trading James,” according to team sources. The Lakers want James to retire donning the Purple and Gold, and that’s coming from a “high-ranked team sourced,” per The Athletic’s report.

The Lakers, meanwhile, maintain that they have no intention of trading James, according to multiple team sources. Their preference is for James to retire with the Lakers — a stance that a high-ranked team source reiterated to The Athletic Wednesday.

Both James and his superagent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports reiterated last week that the soon-to-be-40 veteran is going nowhere and that he wants to stay put in Los Angeles, to which the Lakers have no problem and are very pleased with by the looks of it.

Remember we’re talking about a franchise here that prides itself in extending its legends forever even if that means roaming the desert in ugly ways for half a decade.

According to Amick and Buha, “The Lakers, per the high-ranking team source, are also willing to explore the notion of adding Bronny James next season.” That comes from the belief within the organization that “James’ happiness truly matters,” so that’s what they will be prioritizing.

Even if James decides to decline his player option, which would see him earn north of $51 million (yes, you read that right), and thus can only sign for the maximum money available for 38-or-older players, there is no denying him bagging the max $162 million, three-year deal (that’s $54 million per year, mind you) from whoever wants his services—and Bronny’s!

If you’re a Lakers fan, you probably want to keep your LeBron jersey around and ready to rock for a few more years because, in all honesty, James is staying put.

If you’re a LeBron stan and a New York Knicks fan on top of that, well, then maybe start looking into the roster your beloved Knickerbockers have been building for years on end, smoothly crafted for a few seasons, turned into a bonafide contender with a couple of hurting-but-necessary trades this season, and embrace the 12-deep rotation Tom Thibodeau has now in his possession.

Trading for James might have made sense amid the disastrous string of injuries impacting the Knicks this month and if all New York wanted was to make a run at the chip this and this June exclusively.

Now, with the trade deadline gone and bodies expected to heal during the next few weeks/months, trying to land Bronny and Bron makes little to no sense. #KnicksForClicks, indeed.

Go New York, Go New York, Go!