NBA Shaken Up? LeBron to Knicks Rumor Gains Steam | ESPN Latest

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05/07/2025

🔥 ESPN's latest NBA update has fans stunned: the New York Knicks are reportedly preparing to land LeBron James in a blockbuster trade that could completely alter the NBA landscape.

With tensions rising between LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Knicks aggressively pushing for a title window, insiders say a megadeal is in the works. If completed, this trade could instantly make the Knicks a top contender in the Eastern Conference, while signaling a full shift in power across the league.

This ESPN segment breaks down what the Knicks would give up, how LeBron fits into New York’s system, and the ripple effects on the Lakers, NBA rivalries, and playoff races.

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#LeBronJames #Knicks #Lakers #ESPN #NBABlockbuster #NBATradeRumors #NBA2025 #KnicksTrade #LeBronToKnicks #NBANews

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LeBron to Knicks trade, ESPN LeBron update, Knicks LeBron James deal, Lakers LeBron trade news, NBA blockbuster trade 2025, Knicks superteam rumors, LeBron James trade rumors, ESPN NBA breaking news, Knicks offseason moves, LeBron James next team, LeBron James New York Knicks

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00:00Knicks and LeBron James. How does it happen? What is a feasible trade? Because he opts into his

00:06$52.6 million player option at the start of free agency. And then we hear a really interesting

00:12statement from Rich Paul, his agent, that he knows that LeBron wants to compete for

00:16championships still at his age 41 season coming up, but that the Lakers, as they know,

00:22are looking towards the future. So a lot of uncertainty within what he was saying,

00:28you know, some reading between the lines. Like when I say the word New York Knicks,

00:33LeBron James, like, can you fathom how that would work? If even if just like without knowing the X's

00:38and O's of like a trade proposal, does that make any sense in the world? A place for him to play

00:43outside of Los Angeles? I mean, it makes sense. If the idea is to compete for a championship,

00:48I mean, this is a Knicks team that should have been in the finals, right? If you avoid the game

00:53one collapse, you're in, I feel like because game seven against the Pacers would have been

00:57in Madison Square Garden. I think the Knicks win that. So from that perspective, it makes sense.

01:01But like, what would they have to give up to get him in a trade? How many games can he play? But

01:07I'll tell you this, let's say it happened. Let's say LeBron goes to New York. Let's say he wins a

01:12championship. It would end the Jordan LeBron conversation because he would never be number

01:18one. I think on any reasonable person's list, if that's how he got his fifth championship. So he can do

01:24it. But the conversation about the GOAT would be over, in my opinion, if he took that route.

01:29Yeah, that's an interesting point. Why? Like, why would you put, why, why do you, just because he

01:33had to jump to so many teams to do it? Yeah, this is cheating, right? I mean, if you, if you tell me

01:39obviously what he did in Miami, young guy joining forces, fine. Won it validly in Cleveland, Kevin Love,

01:45Kyrie Irving. And then, you know, people say what they want about the bubble. Everyone was in the bubble,

01:49right? So you can't just knock the Lakers for winning a championship. But if at 41, he joins a

01:55Knicks team and they win a championship, I just don't give him the credit. If that's the scenario

02:02that happens compared to Michael Jordan. And I don't want to do the Jordan LeBron thing all day,

02:06but for me, the GOAT conversation would end. Like he would be ineligible on my list. If that's the

02:13route he took to his fifth championship. Okay. So that wouldn't potentially not be the storybook

02:16ending for LeBron James in Myron Medcalf's mind. Alan Hahn disagrees. He was on Get Up yesterday,

02:24the host of Don Hahn and Rosenberg on ESPN New York. And he laid out this scenario,

02:29the storybook ending for LeBron James to play for the New York Knicks.

02:34So this could be a farewell tour. So put all that stuff together and you have to think,

02:37where is the fastest, easiest path to the NBA finals for LeBron James? It's the place he has

02:43avoided his entire career. That's right, everybody. It's right here in New York.

02:47Oh boy. I want to say, I dare him. I double dog dare him. I like, if you really,

02:51really believe in all the words you're saying right there, the one place that you know,

02:55you could go, all you have to do is say it, sing it. If you want like Sinatra, New York,

02:59New York. If he does that, that's a gigantic narrative that, you know, he loves. They all love

03:05that. They love being part of the story. And it's a place that you could say,

03:10if he comes here, there is a path to the NBA finals. And let me remind everybody,

03:15this New York franchise, the Knicks, more than a half century since they won a championship.

03:21He has four. He's not going to catch Michael Jordan with six, right? But a lot of people think

03:25if you win one here, it's like equal to two. So just think about that. If you want the best story

03:30possible, because I'm all about the story. Yeah. LeBron to New York is the best story.

03:35Well, boy, there's a lot to unpack there. And I think what Alan Hahn, who was on get up said

03:44that really intrigued me at first was basically, Myron, what you were pointing out, that this is

03:49the easiest path towards a championship. So some might not actually validate that

03:54in the overall LeBron versus Michael Jordan conversation, which is its own conversation

03:58in its own right. We don't have to have that. But like to make this work, because we've talked

04:04about other superstar players potentially going to the Knicks to upgrade this roster,

04:09which has already had a lot of upgrades. They just went out and signed Mike Brown as

04:13their head coach. And the expectation is, you know, you're just an Eastern Conference

04:16finals. You don't make that move unless you expect to be in the NBA finals competing for

04:20a real championship in year one under your new head coach. If you're doing this, if you're

04:25pairing him with Jalen Brunson, with Carl Anthony Towns, you're parting ways with some of

04:29your really pivotal role players, whether it's Mikael Bridges, whether it's Josh Hart,

04:34I mean, starters and guys on the bench as well. I just, it's a bold swing. And if this

04:40is a franchise that's looking for its first championship in 50 years, which they are, and

04:44they've shown that doesn't matter how relevant your team is made under anybody, that if it's

04:50not a championship, it's not enough. I could certainly understand why they'd be one of the

04:5429 other teams that would be interested in his services. I just can't figure out, is it a

04:58trade? Is it a buyout? Like, how does he actually get there?

05:02Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the details are the challenge, right? First off, LeBron is a no trade clause,

05:06right? So there's just a lot to go there and sign off.

05:09Yeah. There's a lot attached to it, but from a personnel standpoint, they would be competitive.

05:13I mean, the Eastern conference has changed with Tyrese Halliburton's injury, uh, with,

05:19you know, Damian Lillard going down and the bucks kind of reboot, even though Miles Turner

05:23is there now, uh, obviously Jason Taylor being hurt. So right now the, the team at the top

05:28is Cleveland, which hasn't proven anything. I don't think a lot of people believe in

05:31them. So the Eastern conference feels wide open. So I could understand why the Knicks

05:35would say, yeah, bring on LeBron. And I think to me, Courtney, LeBron can't give you 70 plus

05:40games at 41, but he can give you 50 plus and be ready for the playoffs. And Jalen Brunson

05:45is the kind of guy who could handle the load really as LeBron kind of did his load management

05:50and got ready for the playoffs. So from a personnel standpoint, I would understand why the Knicks

05:56would try to make something like that work. If they had the opportunity, it's interesting

05:59the shift here, because you know, you talk about not playing 70 games. Certainly he wouldn't

06:05have to, I wouldn't think given what these other, the other pieces on this roster, but

06:09it's not like he has Tom Thibodeau as his head coach anymore. No more minutes police. And like,

06:15there's a major shift going on from Mike Brown, a Mike Brown coach team. Remember what happened

06:21with the Sacramento Kings 2023? They were the number one offense in the NBA top 10 efficiency

06:26all time. There's going to be a lot more focused on ball movement in New York on, on, on pushing

06:33the pace offensively. Maybe that's better for LeBron at this point of his career without worrying

06:37about some of the smaller details of actually making this happen. But I was just informed in

06:43my ear. No, no, what is this out? I guess we're just like launching out outlandish takes

06:47because it's the 4th of July and, and Myron and I can go rogue on the show. What did you

06:51just say in studio about if LeBron wins a championship in New York, he's better than Michael Jordan.

06:57So Myron, if it makes you feel like you're not the only snitch on this show. I mean, Pat.

07:02Yeah. So earlier this week, I said when we were having this conversation, I said that if LeBron

07:08went to New York, won a title with him, that he would be better than Michael Jordan in a lot of

07:15people's eyes, like, cause I think that would be the, and, and Han said at the end of there,

07:20that some championships count more than others, right? Like that Cleveland title for him counts

07:26more than the Laker title, right? A Knicks title for LeBron would count more. Like you're the guy who

07:32brought in LeBron would eat it up. Like he would love the fact that he could truly be the king in New

07:38York's. So I lived in New York and one thing I can tell you about New York, uh, New York thinks

07:43it's its own country, right? Like if it happens in New York, it really doesn't matter what anyone

07:47else thinks. So I think in New York, it would be gigantic and people would view him as the

07:52greatest ever. There would be no conversation. The rest of the country I think would feel

07:56differently. This is not a Knicks team that needs LeBron to get to the finals. I think they

08:02proved that last year. They just gotta be better and more consistent. They were right there.

08:07So for LeBron to join a team that is right there already should have been in the finals

08:11a year ago. I just wouldn't give him any credit in that situation. Me personally, maybe a lot

08:16of other people would, but I just wouldn't. He's Myron Medcalf. I'm Courtney Cronin. This

08:19is on sportsmanlike on ESPN radio and ESPN too. Now there's another team that has some buzz

08:26generating how real it is. Depends on some stipulations within LeBron James's ability to get

08:32away from the Los Angeles Lakers. Let's hear from Dave McMenamin, who was on ESPN LA with

08:37Mason in Ireland, the Dallas Mavericks, huh?

08:42Dallas. I'm told that they would only be interested in LeBron in a buyout situation.

08:47So, and again, we just, cause there is a deal to be made there, right? If they wanted to

08:51make a deal, there's a deal. Yeah. There's a deal to be made there. But I, I, again, I

08:54don't believe that's happening.

08:55So the wild thing, like I'm, I'm with Dave McMenamin on that. I don't think it's happening.

09:01And this buzz started to bubble early at the start of free agency earlier this week in

09:06the NBA that, you know, the whole full circle moment, he gets to get paired up with Anthony

09:12Davis. Again, he goes to the place that blew up the NBA and sent Luka Doncic to be his teammate.

09:18It's Kyrie Irving. We gets to get paired with again. It's Cooper flag. Like, yeah, there's

09:22a lot of cool threads here and storylines. I can't see this working with the Dallas Mavericks

09:27for a handful of reasons. One of which being why would the Lakers do business with them?

09:32Like if this, if this is only a buyout scenario, that's one thing. There's the, I mean, we'd

09:37heard buzz about whether LeBron wants to go to Dallas long before right now. I don't see

09:43this being feasible though, considering what transpired between the two teams this past

09:47off season. Now you're just going to send LeBron back to a team that's probably, that would

09:51probably beat you in the playoffs. That's, that doesn't make much sense.

09:55No, I mean, but I mean, obviously, you know, Nico, Rob Blink are buddies. So, you know,

10:00but you don't get one of those trades. You can't be trying to blow up the NBA every single

10:04offs, every single year at the trade deadline with another move like that. There's no way

10:08that the commissioner would allow that.

10:10I mean, they had coffee and Luka got traded, you know, but maybe they do this at happy hour.

10:15It could happen. I feel like considering how Nico views things, but I just, for me,

10:20I don't have to do it. If I'm the Mavericks, if Kyrie gets healthy, you know, and he should

10:24be healthy potentially by the all-star break of Anthony Davis stays healthy, you're bringing

10:28in Cooper flag, who to me is the most complete one and done talent I've seen, uh, over the

10:33last 20 years. Uh, you have the pieces you're in a good spot. I don't know why you'd want

10:39to go out and get again, a LeBron James is going to turn 41 in the middle of next season.

10:44So I think you're already in a good place. I don't know that that's the team. Uh, if

10:51you're LeBron James, especially it keeps you in the Western conference. Why would you stay

10:54in the Western conference? If the goal is to win a championship, this kind of feels like

10:58the conversation that some people on our, uh, affiliate in Cleveland are having right

11:03now. Could he possibly find his way back to Cleveland to end his career? I mean, we could

11:07literally go on and on every single team, one through 29 outside of the Los

11:13Angeles Lakers to, to find the right fit. It's really difficult though, because of

11:17the contract itself, because of the control that he has, and he's going to go

11:22out on his terms. We know that much. I just don't know if, if either of those

11:26teams make a whole ton of sense for what LeBron wants with his legacy. We'll put a

11:30pin in this, come back to it in a bit. I mentioned the superstar conversation. There

11:35was an interesting podcast note that I want to get into here. A two-time NBA

11:40champion told, said that Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Halliburton are not superstars.

11:45Is he right? We get into that next. Courtney Cronin, Myron Medcalf with you here

11:49on unsportsmanlike ESPN radio and ESPN2.

11:52What up and what's good?

11:54It, it's really great.

11:54It, it's bad.

11:55It, it.

11:59It, it's.

12:00It, it.

12:02It, it.

12:07It, it.

12:19It, it.

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