{"id":129745,"date":"2025-12-13T08:35:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T08:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=129745"},"modified":"2025-12-13T08:35:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T08:35:53","slug":"breaking-jeff-teague-believes-lebron-james-massive-contract-has-become-a-major-obstacle-for-the-lakers-according-to-teague-the-salary-limits-los-angeles-flexibility-and-makes-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=129745","title":{"rendered":"Breaking: Jeff Teague believes LeBron James\u2019 massive contract has become a major obstacle for the Lakers. According to Teague, the salary limits Los Angeles\u2019 flexibility and makes meaningful roster upgrades through trades extremely difficult."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"has-video wp-caption \">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2250629974-e1765212060911.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2250629974-e1765212060911.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2250629974-e1765212060911.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2250629974-e1765212060911.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"LeBron James, Lakers, lakers trades\" width=\"780\" height=\"520\" data-img-load-time=\"1931\" data-dom-ready-time=\"3521\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0Los Angeles Lakers\u00a0know precisely what they need to upgrade the roster ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline \u2014 add a quality wing defender or two.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, they own only one\u00a0tradable first-round pick, which\u00a0reportedly lacks value\u00a0around the league, and a host of expiring contracts that are tough to move, the most difficult being LeBron James\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>Former NBA All-Star Jeff Teague strongly believes that James \u2014 who is on an expiring salary of $52.6 million \u2014 impedes the Lakers\u2019 ability to improve the roster around their high-scoring backcourt duo of Luka Doncic and\u00a0Austin Reaves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey can\u2019t get anybody defensively because \u2018Bron take up a lot of money,\u201d\u00a0Teague said on the \u201cClub 520\u201d podcast\u00a0on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThey say, \u2018We need more defense.\u2019 Why would you trade AR, who\u2019s 27 and playing at an All-Star level, when you have a 40-year-old who\u2019s on his last leg?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Limited Lakers Trade Options<\/h2>\n<p>To Teague\u2019s point, James \u2014 who has a no-trade clause \u2014 takes up a chunk of the Lakers\u2019 payroll despite averaging a career-low 16.5 points on 30% shooting from three.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the Lakers\u2019 only tradeale first-round pick (2031 or 2032) doesn\u2019t have much value around the league, per The Athletic\u2019s Dan Woike.<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\">\u201cAccording to league sources, that future Lakers pick, which could be in 2031 or 2032, is less valuable than it was viewed both before the Luka Don\u010di\u0107 trade and since Mark Walter\u2019s acquisition of the franchise,\u201d Woike reported on Dec. 11.<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\"><em>\u201cThe belief is that since Walter has proven to be an effective owner with the\u00a0Los Angeles Dodgers, that he and whoever he entrusts the franchise to will, at minimum, keep it from the kind of freefall that would truly make that future first-round pick less of a lottery ticket.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>A Tough Task for Lakers<\/h2>\n<p>It also doesn\u2019t help that the Lakers\u2019 other expiring contracts of Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent and\u00a0Maxi Kleber\u00a0are viewed as negative assets, unless the Rob Pelinka-led front office attaches a first-round pick and Dalton Knecht in a potential deal.<\/p>\n<p>That exact package\u00a0won\u2019t be enough for the Lakers to net\u00a0New Orleans Pelicans\u00a0wing Herb Jones, an All-Defensive talent who Los Angeles reportedly covets.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cConsidering what LA would have to offer in a deal, expiring contracts and a single first-round pick, the Pelicans almost certainly wouldn\u2019t engage at that price point,\u201d Woike reported on Dec. 11 on a potential Lakers trade for Herb Jones.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Woike added that there\u2019s a very slim chance the Lakers can land Jones.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe the view of the Lakers\u2019 assets or the Pelicans\u2019 view of Jones will change between now and the Feb. 5\u00a0NBA\u00a0trade deadline, but as of now, sources point out, New Orleans would need a whole lot to be convinced otherwise,\u201d added the insider.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew Wiggins\u00a0is another 3-and-D player that the Lakers could target ahead of the Feb. 5 deadline. Again, the Lakers could struggle to match the\u00a0Miami Heat\u2019s reported asking price\u00a0of at least one first-round pick and two rotational players.<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\">Until James\u2019 money comes off the books in 2026, the Lakers may very well be hamstrung and unable to upgrade the roster around Doncic and Reaves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0Los Angeles Lakers\u00a0know precisely what they need to upgrade the roster ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline \u2014 add a quality wing defender or two. Unfortunately,&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":129750,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Breaking: Jeff Teague believes LeBron James\u2019 massive contract has become a major obstacle for the Lakers. According to Teague, the salary limits Los Angeles\u2019 flexibility and makes meaningful roster upgrades through trades extremely difficult. - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=129745\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Breaking: Jeff Teague believes LeBron James\u2019 massive contract has become a major obstacle for the Lakers. According to Teague, the salary limits Los Angeles\u2019 flexibility and makes meaningful roster upgrades through trades extremely difficult. - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The\u00a0Los Angeles Lakers\u00a0know precisely what they need to upgrade the roster ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline \u2014 add a quality wing defender or two. 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