Lakers Trade Rumors: NBA writer increases LeBron James' chances of demanding trade by 10%

Earlier this offseason, LeBron James raised eyebrows after he opted in his contract instead of waiting for the LA Lakers to offer him a bigger deal. James has never opted into a contract before in his career. So, his decision had the community speculating about a potential LA exit.

On Friday, Lakers insider and NBA writer Jovan Buha supported the speculation by increasing the chances of James requesting a trade by 10%. Buha expressed his thoughts on the subject after a fan asked him for his insight on James' trade situation on his YouTube livestream.

"My percentages have progressively gone up," he said. "I said like 95% chance he is staying and 5% chance he asks out ... I am at like 85-15, which is still decisively in favor of him staying a Lakers and I think that's the overwhelmingly likely outcome here." (Timestamp: 20:45)

LeBron James will turn 41 in December; however, the Lakers superstar has shown no signs of slowing down. He has been competing on an elite level with athletes who are in their primes.

Last season, James averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game while shooting 51.3% from the field. He earned his 21st All-Star nomination and led the Lakers to a third-place finish in the standings at the end of the regular season.

Jovan Buha shares two situations that can increse chances for a LeBron James trade

After providing his insights on LeBron James' trade situation, Jovan Buha shared two scenarios that would drastically increase the chances of the Lakers superstar requesting a trade.

"Two things would have to happen in my opinion for this to drastically change," Buha said. "He announces he is retiring after this year, this is final yeart and then the Lakers are, for whatever reason are underperforming around the deadline. Maybe it's mid to late January, and the Lakers are seventh in the west or eighth in the west." (Timestamp 21:47)

Buha said if the Lakers are performing poorly before the deadline, James can ask for a way out to compete for a championship, given that it would likely be his final year in the NBA. Furthermore, the insider said that he has no clarity on James' retirement plans, and there is no way of knowing how LA would perform next season.

Later, Buha said if anyone were to ask him now about James' team in April, he would say the Lakers.