The start of the 2025-26 NBA season is only a week away and one team that will be in action on opening night is the Los Angeles Lakers as they will host the Golden State Warriors in their first game of the new season. Los Angeles enters the new season with high expectations due to their superstar duo of LeBron James and Luka Doncic leading the way, along with other key players such as Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura.
The Lakers also made some key additions to their roster this offseason as they signed Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia and Marcus Smart in free agency to upgrade their roster. With these moves, the Lakers are looking to clinch a top seed in the Western Conference this season as they try to make a run at the championship.
Lakers Could Trade LeBron James This Season
While the Lakers are looking to make a title run this season, the main headline hovering over the team entering the new season is the future of James in Los Angeles.
Of course, James picked up his player option this offseason instead of signing a new contract extension which has him entering the final season of his contract with the Lakers. Because of this, many have begun to speculate about the possibility of James leaving the Lakers in free agency next offseason, which has made him the subject of trade rumors.
Trade Odds Reveal Potential Landing Spots for LeBron James
With James being in trade rumors, as some believe the Lakers could look to trade him ahead of the trade deadline, there have been multiple teams linked to the four-time champion and Bovada recently released their trade odds that includes six teams.
According to Bovada, the Dallas Mavericks are the favorite (-120) to acquire James this season and they are followed by the Cleveland Cavaliers (+350), Golden State Warriors (+450), New York Knicks (+550), Miami Heat (+900) and Phoenix Suns (+900).
It is no surprise that the Mavericks are the favorite to land the superstar forward this season as they have been linked to James for most of the summer.
Of course, a trade to Dallas would reunite him with former teammates Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, though they could also elect to hold off.
The Cavaliers and Heat are also among the favorites to acquire James this season which would reunite him with two of his former franchises.
Golden State was also named as one of the favorites to land him which came as no surprise as it was reported that the Warriors tried to acquire James the past two seasons before ultimately landing Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline last season. While these six teams are the favorites to land James this season ahead of the trade deadline, the Lakers have so far shown little interest in trading the future Hall of Famer, though that could change if Los Angeles gets off to a slow start.
If the Lakers do look to move James this season, these six teams could all show interest in him, though it would not be a surprise to see multiple other teams around the NBA try to pull off a trade for the 21-time All-Star.
