LA Times columnist calls for LeBron and A.D to leave the Lakers: ‘Dear LeBron, … ask out’

Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke shared an interesting take on Monday, declaring that the best thing for the Los Angeles Lakers would be if LeBron James and Anthony Davis asked out.

“Dear LeBron, … ask out,” Plaschke wrote.

“Dear A.D., … follow him.

“This is my Christmas wish for a Lakers franchise that has lost the town to the [Los Angeles] Dodgers, lost the season because of a lousy roster, and just lost by 41 points to Pat Riley.

“After a quarter of the season, the Lakers are no better than a bottom seed in the Western Conference, surely headed for a third consecutive appearance in the play-in tournament, seemingly destined for a second consecutive first-round knockout.

“It’s over. Already. There is no hope. Again. With no first-round draft pick and suffocating salaries, they might not be any better next year. Really.”

The Lakers have gotten off to a pedestrian start in the 2024-25 season, winning 13 of their first 24 games. They currently hold the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference, but Plaschke doesn’t seem to think that this team can contend for a title.

While James and Davis don’t appear to be thinking of asking for trades out of Los Angeles, Plaschke argued that it is the best way that the two stars can help the team.

“The best way the two leading Lakers can help this team is to willingly leave it,” he wrote.

“If James relents on his no-trade clause, the Lakers can send him to a contender for one last hurrah.

“If Davis gives his approval — the Lakers don’t need it and could trade him today since he signed his contract in 2023, but they would want it because that’s how they treat superstars — the Lakers could send him somewhere that can give him a chance at another ring before his body breaks down for the last time.”

While James, who turns 40 this month, is nearing the end of his career and may not be able to lead the franchise to a title, the Lakers may not want to part ways with Davis given his start to the 2024-25 season.

The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft is averaging 27.5 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 52.9 percent from the field and 32.0 percent from 3.

Davis is still under contract with the Lakers through the 2026-27 season and has a player option for the 2027-28 campaign. So, it may be hard for the Lakers to justify moving him since he could be on the team for several more seasons.

Plaschke seems intent on the Lakers entering a rebuilding phase, as the current roster they have around Davis and James hasn’t been enough to win a title.

“It’s LeBron James and Anthony Davis’ team, and it’s time for them to give it up,” Plaschke wrote.

The Lakers won the NBA Finals with James and Davis in the 2019-20 season, but they have not made it back to the Finals since.

Los Angeles was knocked out in the first round of the playoffs in the 2020-21 season before missing the playoffs entirely in the 2021-22 season. That failed season caused the franchise to fire then-Lakers head coach Frank Vogel.

From there, the Lakers hired Darvin Ham and made the Western Conference Finals in the 2022-23 season after reshaping the roster with a midseason trade. Unfortunately, they failed to win a single game in the Western Conference Finals against Denver.

Then, last season, the Lakers lost to Denver in the playoffs again, this time in the first round, leading to Ham getting dismissed.

While it’s certainly possible that the Lakers could turn things around this season under new head coach J.J. Redick, Plaschke seems to think that it is unlikely.

If the Lakers end up taking his advice and moving on from the two stars, the franchise will likely look a lot different in the coming years than it has since James signed in Los Angeles.