The Los Angeles Lakers need to make several hard decisions this offseason, particularly with their free agents. There's one free agent that presents the hardest decision for the Lakers to make. 

LeBron James has been with Los Angeles for eight seasons, the longest continuous stretch he's played with one team throughout his career. He's played with the Cleveland Cavaliers for 11 total seasons, but that's broken up between two different stints with the team, whereas his time with the Lakers has been concurrent.

Now, that lengthy stretch is at risk. James is an unrestricted free agent and while there are questions about whether or not James will retire completely from basketball, there's also the increasingly likely chance that James will keep going and in that case, for what team he keeps going for becomes a big question. 

James has enjoyed a lot of success with the Lakers, including six winning seasons and a NBA championship in 2020.

Even in this past season, while James was the third option for the first time in his career behind Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, he was forced to rise to the occasion as the leader of the team during the playoffs when both Doncic and Reaves went down with injuries and led the team to improbable success against the Houston Rockets.

Thats why bringing James back should be a big priority for the Lakers this offseason. It won't be easy as a a report from ESPN's Brian Windhorst said that James will likely expect a maximum contract with a yearly salary around $50 million, which will obviously put some strain on the Lakers finances.

Still, even at his age, James has proven he's still a vital contributor on the court and his leadership and experience are huge factors that prove he makes the Lakers better when he's on the court. 

The question of chemistry is also a big reason that should point the Lakers toward targeting James. Before Reaves and Doncic suffered their injuries, the Lakers were on a roll in the regular season and the team's chemistry seemed to be at a season high. 

While the team obviously has some holes in the roster that need to be filled, especially when it comes to picking up some defensive-minded players, keeping the core of their Big Three together would be huge for maintaining that team chemistry and keeping the continuity of the team's leadership. 

The superstar pairing of James and Doncic in particular continues to look encouraging and as James showed this season, there's still a lot left in the tank for one of the NBA's greatest all-time players.