NBA insider says LeBron James should have left the Los Angeles Lakers — calls his decision a ‘big mistake’

The Los Angeles Lakers’ management and fans can breathe a sigh of relief after LeBron James’ longtime agent and Klutch Sports CEO, Rich Paul, confirmed to ESPN that James will exercise his $52.6 million player option for the 2025–26 NBA season.

This move means James will make history by becoming the first player in NBA history to play 23 seasons, surpassing the previous record held by Vince Carter. At 40, James is currently tied with Carter for the most seasons played.

Many believe James will remain with the Lakers because his high salary makes him extremely difficult for the majority of NBA teams to acquire. However, not everyone is thrilled with LeBron’s decision to stay in Los Angeles. A National Basketball Association (NBA) insider revealed to HoopsHype that the 40-year-old should have declined the player option and signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers, his original NBA team.

Dwyane Wade doesn’t think the Lakers will trade LeBron James because they just sold for $10 billion dollars:

“The Lakers just sold for $10 billion dollars. They ain’t sell for $10 billion for LeBron James not to be there.” 👀 pic.twitter.com/pq1TiloXeX

— Wy Network by Dwyane Wade (@wynetwork) July 20, 2025

“I’m not gonna sit here and tell someone to say no to over 50 million, but LeBron is a billionaire, man. He has enough money and makes enough off the court. If I were in his camp, I would have told him to decline his player option with the Lakers and sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers. That would have been the smart play,” the executive said.

“Do you know how dangerous Cleveland would have been? LeBron starting next to Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, and Darius Garland? They would have walked to the NBA Finals, and it would have been a storybook ending for LeBron to finish his career in Cleveland. I think he made a mistake,” the executive added.

There’s no doubt James would have needed to take a major pay cut to join the Cavaliers, considering they entered the current offseason over the second apron of the league’s salary cap. That would have made a third return to the franchise that selected him first overall in the 2003 NBA Draft — and where he led the team to the 2016 NBA title.

As it stands, the only way LeBron can return to Cleveland one last time is by negotiating a buyout of his Lakers contract this offseason. However, this seems extremely unlikely, as the Cavaliers — being a second apron team — are not allowed to aggregate salaries in a trade.

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