Summer Forecast: Who is most likely to win Rookie of the Year?

In an appearance on the “Sports By Northwest” podcast by The Oregonian, ESPN’s Marc Spears gave an update on Damian Lillard’s trade request. Spears said Lillard is still focused on getting to the Miami Heat, but that Jayson Tatum has tried to recruit the star guard to the Boston Celtics.

Despite receiving interest from the Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers ahead of the trade deadline, the Los Angeles Lakers were never close to trading LeBron James. In fact, the Lakers have made it known that their preference is to keep James moving forward.

Rival executives don’t know if James has the same feelings towards the Lakers.

There remains speculation that James desire to play with his son Bronny will be a major factor in what team he plays for in the future. If another team drafts the younger James, his superstar father could choose to go to that team. There’s also a belief that the elder James desire to play with his son could push the Lakers to draft Bronny.

The Lakers ability to potentially land a star ballhandler could factor into James’ willingness to stay too. Los Angeles is known to have some level of interest in Dejounte Murray and Zach LaVine. The Lakers could also think bigger and could look to add an All-Star level player like Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell or Kyrie Irving.