Pelinka wants to give LeBron time.
Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka had plenty to say about LeBron James during Tuesday's end-of-season press conference.
The Lakers had just been swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Semifinals, cutting short a 53-29 season that had real promise, and the obvious question was what happens next with the 41-year-old forward.
"We probably haven't seen a player that has honored the game to the extent that he's honored the game," Pelinka said. "He's given so much to his teammates, to this organization. The thing we want to do more than anything else is to honor him back."
Those words carry weight when they come from the guy who controls the roster. Look at what James actually did this season and it starts to make sense why Pelinka feels that way.
He averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds across 60 regular season games while shooting 51.5 percent from the floor, all at an age where most players have been retired for over a decade.
He also earned his 22nd consecutive All-Star selection, which is a number that still doesn't quite feel real when it sits on a page.
LeBron Stepped Up When It Mattered Most
With Luka Doncic sidelined by a hamstring injury that kept him out of the entire playoffs, James slid back into the lead role on offense and averaged 23.2 points, 7.3 assists and 6.7 rebounds per game across 10 playoff contests.
He helped the Lakers get past the Houston Rockets in six games in the first round before Oklahoma City's depth and defense overwhelmed them in the second round.
Even in the final game of the sweep, James dropped 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a 115-110 loss that was closer than the series score suggests.
He wasn't the reason the Lakers went home, and the roster around him just wasn't deep enough to compete with the defending champions while Doncic sat in street clothes.
Why the Lakers Should Bring Him Back
James is entering unrestricted free agency for the first time since joining the Lakers back in 2018, and both sides have reportedly shown interest in running it back.
Pelinka was pretty open about that on Tuesday, saying the priority right now is giving James the space to figure out whether he wants to play a 24th NBA season.
If James does come back, a deal somewhere in the $20-30 million range on a short-term contract would make sense for everybody involved.
Doncic is the franchise's future after leading the NBA in scoring at 33.5 points per game this season, but James showed he can still shoulder the load when needed.
The Lakers went 53-29 and won a playoff series without their best player for most of the postseason, and a lot of that had to do with James refusing to let up.
Bringing him back at a fair price lets Los Angeles keep competing now while they build around Doncic for what comes next.