James used the weekend to alert the Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers may have to trade for LeBron James this summer.

James, clearly, has been offended by Lakers management twice in the past two weeks. First, when management decided not to make trades before the Feb. 10 deadline after he had pushed for something both publicly and privately. More accurately, it was what he expected. And second, when Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka went overboard in announcing that James was fine with the status quo, when a source told ESPN that there was no pre-clearance from James.

Since then, LeBron has been banging on the team’s doors with his trademark passive-aggressive maneuvers, both on social media and at press conferences. He then turned aggressive-aggressive during All-Star weekend in an interview with The Athletic in which he dropped flammable liquid on a previously bubbling concept that he could mount one last comeback for the Cleveland Cavaliers before retiring.

Regardless of how James, 37, intends to shape those statements in the future (he was careful to qualify them to some extent), he is known to be a master when it comes to operating with the media who, while in Cleveland, spoke to a reporter he knows well. LeBron knew exactly what he was doing.

The same thing he was doing last week, in the wake of the trade deadline inaction, when he talked about how his recent knee injury would likely bother him for the rest of the season. The knee is surely an issue, but James was also laying the groundwork to give himself options depending on how the rest of the season plays out for the Lakers (27-31).

What James is doing probably has one main goal: to force the Lakers to perform this summer. He’s wanted to do it right and now he’s doing it hard.

It’s not about leaving Los Angeles; that’s not something James wants to do. It’s not even about playing with his son. Bronny, 17, has a minimum of two years out of the NBA, if he’s capable and ready at that age. There’s plenty of basketball to go around and, as James has shown this season, there’s still gas in the tank to spend before worrying about that dream.

James has never worried about draft picks, present or future. He’s had an occasional interest in developing young teammates, adopting a few over the years. But he’s never had a problem parting with them if they become bargaining chips that get him closer to a gold trophy faster. Any young man on your list who thinks otherwise hasn’t done his research.

You play for the present and always want to win the championship in the season you are in. You don’t get to eight consecutive NBA Finals, 10 of them in a 13-year span, while changing teams three times, focusing only on the long term. James demands that his teams operate this way, brings it every day and expects everyone else to do so as well. That absolutely includes management.

Now is when it would be wise to think back to the winter of 2018, when James was frustrated with a mediocre Cavs team. He had refused to extend his contract the previous summer when a deal for Paul George was on the table. Cleveland team owner Dan Gilbert responded by acceding to Kyrie Irving’s trade demand, settling a deal centered on a draft pick and not players as James had made clear he wanted.

There was plausible deniability, but in mid-January James began playing under a form of protest. Everyone on the team knew it and it was clear that if you looked closely, James’ foot wasn’t stepping on the gas. Gilbert and Cavs general manager Koby Altman were at a crossroads and knew there was a good chance James would leave in free agency, but they still had the rest of the season.

Eventually, Gilbert and Altman realized they had no other choice. James was an irreplaceable asset; once he was gone, there would never be another. So, the day before the trade deadline, they made several trades. That night, Altman met with James before the game and told him that they were going to trade for four new players the next day and had decided to use their first-round pick that year to do so. It was the seventh first-rounder they had traded in the four seasons James had returned.

That night, an energetic James put an end to his pressure with a signature 37-point, 10-rebound, 15-assist masterpiece that included a basket over the final buzzer to win the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He capped it off with a move for his personal passive-aggressive Hall of Fame, turning his back on Isaiah Thomas as he charged the court in celebration. James never wanted the Cavs to sign Thomas and already knew he would be traded the next day.

The Cavs got four role players at the deadline, but that wasn’t the real prize. That night, members of the front office looked at each other and realized: what they had really traded was James. He went on to have one of the best postseason runs of his professional career, scoring twice and winning two Game 7s, including one away from home, to reach his eighth consecutive Finals.

The Lakers were involved in all of that, got in on those Cavs trades and used them to get the salary cap space to sign James the following summer and get their first-round pick.

Now they may need to remember that.

After the Lakers won the title in 2020, James extended his contract two seasons through 2023. Because of the rules around that extension, James was unable to get a player option in the deal. It’s the first time he hasn’t had the option to end a contract early since he was on his rookie deal nearly two decades ago.

It wasn’t even an issue when the deal was announced, but now it’s a fortunate circumstance. The Lakers will get this summer without having to worry about James hitting free agency and watching them work before deciding to re-sign.

But nothing is free. Aug. 4 is the first day James can extend his contract again. The Lakers will likely offer one. And James will have some demands before he accepts.

The Lakers have a flawed payroll, yes, and James played a major role in putting it together, but that doesn’t mean he’s not ready to divorce it. If Russell Westbrook picks up his own player option, he’ll have a contract about to expire for $47 million.

After only being able to trade his 2027 first-round pick, which the Lakers decided not to trade at the deadline in part because they still owe two future first-rounders from the Anthony Davis deal, the rules will allow the Lakers to trade their 2029 pick.

Being aggressive and continuing to mortgage the future will be painful and risky. But James is making his feelings clear: he doesn’t care. Do that and they’ll get more than new players, they’ll keep James deeply involved.

That’s something no team has been able to say no to.