The King’s seat is still warm in LA. Following a tough exit at the hands of OKC, Lakers GM Rob Pelinka has made his stance clear: Yankee Scores reports…

Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka has said LeBron is always welcome if he decides to extend his career to a 24th season next year

The “Honor” Phase

“We probably haven’t seen a player that has honored the game to the extent that he’s honored the game,” Pelinka said as part of the team’s annual exit interviews with reporters. “He’s given so much to his teammates, to this organization. And the thing we want to do more than anything else is honor him back.”

After the Lakers’ 115-110 Game 4 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, which swept them out of the playoffs in the second round, James stated that he will need to “recalibrate” with his family over the upcoming weeks to determine whether to continue playing or retire following the defeat to the Thunder.

Unrestricted Free Agent

Pelinka assured that the Lakers will be patient with James while he considers what to do during his stint as an unrestricted free agent.

“The first order of business there is allowing him to spend the time he needs to decide what his next steps are,” Pelinka said. “Does he want to play another year in the NBA? And that’ll be [decided through] family time, I think time with his inner circle. And we just want to honor that for him.”

James joined the Lakers in 2018 and is entering his eighth season with the club, the longest stretch he has spent with any of his three NBA organizations (Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat). This season, the four-time NBA champion was named an All-Star at the age of 41.

“Of course, any team, including ours, would love to have LeBron James on their roster,” Pelinka said. “That’s a blessing in itself just with what he does.”

The Next Priority

The next longest tenured Lakers player behind James is Austin Reaves, who is due to become a free agent this summer as well. The Lakers signed Reaves in 2021 after he went undrafted from college and quickly became an excellent scorer and passer. The 28-year-old, who will turn 28 in a few days, averaged career-highs in points per game (23.3), rebounds (4.7), assists (5.5), and steals (1.1).

Pelinka also expressed strong interest in re-signing Reaves this offseason.

“He started his journey here as a Laker and has made it very clear to us that he wants his journey to continue as a Laker,” Pelinka said. “And we feel the same way. We want his odyssey to continue to unfold in the purple and gold. … Both sides have made it abundantly clear that we want to work something out where he continues his prolific career here.”