The most-likely scenario, according to Dan Woike and Joe Vardon of The Athletic, is James stays put and the Lakers see how far they can get next season with a core of James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and Rui Hachimura, plus free-agent additions Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia.

Apparently fueling the trade or buyout rumors is a statement made by James’ longtime agent, Rich Paul, last month that included this line, “We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage...