Ideally, the Los Angeles Lakers would like to keep both LeBron James and Austin Reaves, but the financial reality of the offseason could force a difficult decision. General manager Rob Pelinka has publicly expressed a desire to retain both players, yet the situation is complicated by two very different timelines. James represents an immediate championship push, while Reaves is viewed as a cornerstone piece for the franchise’s long-term future.

If the four-time MVP is unwilling to accept a pay cut, the Lakers may eventually have to choose between maximizing the present and investing in the future. Now, according to one Lakers insider, coming to a decision may not be as complicated as it appears from the outside.

“If it comes down to, would you rather pay Austin 40 million for the next five years or LeBron 40 million for one year, they’re going to prioritize the long-term contract here,” Jovan Buha said on Buha’s Block on May 30. “Austin is more of a priority for the Lakers than LeBron is. That’s just a fact. The second part of it is that Austin is going to have a market.

“And LeBron, maybe he wants to go to Chicago or Brooklyn. I do not foresee that. But the issue with LeBron is that all of the teams that are going to want LeBron are going to have somewhere between a vet minimum offer and a non-taxpayer mid-level exception offer.”

In essence, what Buha is arguing is that James doesn’t possess the same negotiating leverage over the Lakers that Reaves does. But even if the 41-year-old veteran manages to attract a hefty contract offer closer to $50 million, there’s no guarantee that Pelinka will oblige and make a counteroffer. That is because the logical objective is to have a team that’s capable of competing for titles, isn’t it?

“Austin can go get a monster contract offer from Chicago or Brooklyn, and put pressure on the Lakers to be like, ‘They’re about to pay me $40 million annually, maybe I’ll take a haircut off of that, but you need to give me that 5th year, and it needs to be pretty close to $40 million,'” Buha explained the other side of the coin.

The writing has been on the wall. Reaves is 28, coming off the best NBA season of his career, averaging 23.3 points and 5.5 assists. Even if the feeling in LA is that he won’t progress further as a player, Reaves still offers long-term stability. And Luka Doncic reportedly wants him as his running mate too, reducing the hassle of finding the right ‘Robin’. In James’ case, though, at 41, he can’t sign a long-term deal. If the Lakers give them both what they want, it’ll stop them from making any impactful additions over the summer.

If, after this offseason, which is essentially Doncic’s third season, the Lakers remain a mediocre team in the West, it is as good as accepting they’re wasting his prime years. Pelinka has a duty to assemble the best roster, and he promised the Slovenian he would do so behind the scenes.

Plus, since the past few days, someone who’s been anonymously named a “must-have” for the Purple and Gold is Lu Dort, who may not be with the Oklahoma City Thunder going forward.

“I think if you’re the Lakers, you want to be front and center on some of those guys; Lu Dort is the guy who could just come in and change your entire perimeter defense,” one Western Conference executive told Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports on May 31. “That’s been a problem for them for so long. But if you have Luka, you need 3-and-D guys, and he’s on another level.”

Dort has a team option worth $17.7 million for the 2026-27 season. With GM Sam Presti having to make a big call on Chet Holmgren’s future and a few key other players, like Isaiah Hartenstein, for their mid-term futures, Dort may not be subject to a return. He averaged 8.3 points and 3.6 rebounds in the regular season and 5.5 points and 2.7 rebounds in 15 postseason games. He has established himself as a premier defender, someone the Lakers can really work with.

Now, the question is, can LeBron James shoehorn himself into this conversation and be a part of that vision? The veteran’s commitment to the LA project was screaming ‘purple and gold’ during the playoffs. Unfortunately, there’s just one path. The four-time champion will have to take a pay cut (his vet minimum will be just under $4 million)… and we’re saying that because Reaves isn’t going to, no matter what. He is at the peak of his career, and he’ll, in fact, want that five-year bag with the Lakers, as he’s previously hinted at.

Interestingly, the latest murmurs in LA suggest James’ decision depends on the front office’s vision.

How willing is LeBron James to listen and stay with the Lakers?

LeBron James hasn’t given the Lakers even one practical reason to offload him. He carried the team past the first round without Luka Doncic in the Houston Rockets series. He is still capable of orchestrating a winning run, albeit James actually needs help now. That’s where he wouldn’t appear to have fully shunned the idea of taking a pay cut. BUT, he just won’t do it for the sake of it, according to NBA insider Brian Windhorst.

“The LeBron side, from what I am told, would like the Lakers to come and say, ‘LeBron, here’s our plan for you, here’s what we’re offering,’” Windhorst said last week. “If they’re offering less than the max, here’s why: ‘Because we’re going to use this cap space to sign these players, and this is where you slot in.’ LeBron is negotiating unconventionally, which he’s known to do. I don’t think that’s controversial.”

This isn’t the first time James has offered to leave some bread on the table. Before Doncic arrived, he was willing to do the same if the Lakers could sign the right free agents. But in reality, Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss couldn’t procure the necessary names. Now is a fresh opportunity to leverage the help James may extend to bolster the team’s core. If they can’t or won’t, it doesn’t make any sense for the Akron Hammer to leave anything on the table in what may be his final season in the league.

Winning matters, but so does the money, even for a billionaire. So the ball is equally in Rob Pelinka’s court as it is with the new LA Dodgers-inspired front office staff they’ve hired over the last half a year, and continue to do so. They need to prepare a master plan to convince James that his sacrifice will sow the right seeds for the franchise.