Rich Paul Breaks Silence on LeBron James Trade Rumors

Los Angeles Lakers superstar forward LeBron James sent Twitter/X into a frenzy earlier this week when he tweeted an emoji of an hourglass after the team's loss to the Atlanta Hawks. 

That tweet was interpreted by NBA fans as James potentially wanting out of Los Angeles ahead of next week’s NBA trade deadline, as the Lakers have been inconsistent under Darvin Ham this season.

However, James’ agent, Rich Paul, put those trade rumors to rest on Friday, "LeBron won’t be traded, and we aren’t asking to be," per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

It’s kind of shocking to see Paul speaking about the superstar’s future with the team, as James’ tweet took a life of its own and left fans to figure out what he was alluding to. The Lakers would be crazy to trade James, who is one of the best players in the league and still playing at a high level.

The 39-year-old forward is averaging 24.9 points, 7.7 assists, and 7.5 rebounds per game this season. 

Now that being said, the Lakers have been mentioned in trade rumors regarding Atlanta Hawks point guard Dejounte Murray, but James isn’t involved in those. Just as we saw last season, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Lakers try to revamp its roster as they want to get back to the Western Conference Finals this season.

The Lakers are considered longshots to win the West (+2100 on FanDuel Sportsbook), as we are a week away from the NBA trade deadline. But if Los Angeles can land Murray to pair with James and Anthony Davis, it could give fans and bettors confidence that this team can make another deep playoff run.

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