Report: LeBron James ‘intends to remain’ a Laker through trade deadline

After the shocking trade for Luka Doncic raised some questions about his future with the franchise, LeBron James reportedly has no intention of leaving the Lakers.

In the aftermath of the shocking trade for Luka Doncic, questions quickly arose about LeBron James’ future with the Lakers.

LeBron’s future in Los Angeles seems to be a regular talking point no matter how much he says he wants to remain in So Cal. This time around, the unexpected nature of the deal led to some asking if the next domino to fall was LeBron being traded.

But as fast as those questions came about, they were shot down. On Sunday, NBA insider Chris Haynes reported that LeBron intends to remain a Laker through the trade deadline on Thursday.

Respectfully — or maybe not at this point — the response to this is simple: Duh.

For a variety of reasons, LeBron wasn’t going to leave the Lakers after this deal. There have been few players in the league that LeBron has been a bigger fan of than Luka Doncic.

As tough as it may be to lose Anthony Davis, especially as it appears about everyone was blindsided by this deal, there may not be a player LeBron would be more excited about playing with than Luka.

To further that point, it may not be LeBron who should clarify that he wants to remain in Los Angeles but the Lakers who say they want to keep him on the team. Yes, I’m joking. But it’s less of a joke than it would have been 24 hours ago!

This move is all about the future and not the present, which might be a tough pill to swallow for LeBron, who is in the final stages of his career. But it’s not a move that is going to drive LeBron away from Los Angeles.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.