If the LeBron James era hasn’t ended yet for the Los Angeles Lakers, it seems to be moving toward a conclusion faster than ever after James exercised his player option for the 2025-26 season and his agent, Rich Paul, made a comment implying that James may want to be traded in the near future.

Paul clarified that he hasn’t had trade discussions with the Lakers. Still, many are speculating or even predicting that James may not be on the team’s roster come October.

Brian Windhorst said on ESPN Cleveland that the superstar and the Lakers are “beginning to move apart” and that this is the beginning of the end of his time with the franchise (h/t Lakers Daily).

“I would say that’s uncertain,” said Windhorst when asked if James will finish his career with the Lakers. “And I would say one thing I feel pretty good about today, although things can pivot, is that LeBron’s time with the Lakers is beginning to come to an end, you know? They are beginning to move apart. You can actually argue that that started when they traded for Luka [Doncic].

“I know that everybody thought that LeBron was in on that. And I know I said at the time I didn’t believe that. LeBron was not in on it. I don’t know what to tell you. He was not in on it. He wasn’t against it, you know? I think he was shocked that they traded Anthony Davis. But LeBron was not in part of that decision process. I know that there are people who believe that he’s a general manager and you can’t talk them out of it, so I will not try. But that was a move that was away from LeBron as the center of the team.”

When L.A. landed Doncic five months ago, the focus of the team, both on and off the court, shifted from James to Doncic. Its focus has since been on building a roster for and around Doncic, who is 26 years of age and may not have even played the best basketball of his career yet.

If the 40-year-old superstar does ask out, it will not be easy to consummate a trade. ESPN’s Bobby Marks said there is no trade market for James, and to make things even more complicated, James has a no-trade clause, which allows him to veto a proposed trade if his potential destination team wouldn’t have enough talent around him to compete for a championship right away.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Windhorst: Lakers and LeBron James are ‘beginning to move apart’