LeBron James Rumors: Knicks Haven't 'Discussed the Prospect' of Adding Lakers Star

LeBron James eventually playing on the New York Knicks may be nothing more than a dream for some in the Big Apple.

Sam Amick, Anthony Slater and Jovan Buha of The Athletic wrote about the Los Angeles Lakers star on Wednesday and noted "the Knicks' brass has not discussed the prospect of adding James. Not only does the team lack the requisite salary cap space necessary to make room for James this summer, but the idea of the Knicks making moves to free up that sort of money would be seen internally as a serious setback to their long-term plan."

James has a player option for the 2024-25 campaign and could leave the Lakers during the upcoming offseason.

The idea of the King eventually playing in Madison Square Garden picked up plenty of steam ahead of the Lakers' road game against the Knicks on Feb. 3.

He certainly didn't back away from it when he said, "I've had that thought in my career" when discussing playing for New York, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. The comments came at a time when he was being particularly cryptic on social media and even included a Statue of Liberty emoji:

The entire thing generated even more attention because it came before the trade deadline, but the Lakers ended up standing pat and not making any major moves.

As for the game in New York, Los Angeles won 113-105 with James tallying 24 points, five rebounds and five assists on 10-of-19 shooting from the field.

"While that could always change, it's telling that the Knicks didn't respond to James' myriad messages by heading straight for the proverbial war room to figure out a plan to bring him to the Big Apple," Amick, Slater and Buha wrote of the noise surrounding that contest.

Even though New York has lost three in a row, it is still trending in the right direction from a macro perspective. It is fourth in the Eastern Conference and still within striking distance at three games back of the second-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.

Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle and OG Anunoby form a solid core, and the team added some important role players in Bojan Bogdanović and Alec Burks ahead of the trade deadline.

There is a foundation in place for a stretch of competitive seasons, and landing a 39-year-old James during the upcoming offseason doesn't seem to be a part of those plans.