Lakers Attempted to Reunite LeBron James with Former Teammate Ahead of 2024-25 Season

The Los Angeles Lakers have made it clear they want to keep LeBron James around as long as possible, and they’ve been making moves to keep the NBA superstar happy. One such move involved attempting to bring back one of his former Cleveland Cavaliers teammates before the 2024-25 season.

According to a report by Nikola Miloradovic of Eurohoops, the Lakers extended an invitation to Turkish forward Cedi Osman for their training camp. However, Osman ultimately turned down the offer and opted to sign a one-year contract with Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos instead.

“Eurohoops sources revealed that Osman was in advanced negotiations with Real Madrid but couldn’t reach an agreement with the Spanish club. He also received interest from the Los Angeles Lakers, who invited him to their training camp. However, with no solid guarantees of making the final season roster, he chose to return to Europe.”

Osman, 29, had spent the last seven seasons in the NBA, including six years with the Cleveland Cavaliers. In 2023-24, he briefly joined Victor Wembanyama on the San Antonio Spurs before deciding to take his talents back to Europe with Panathinaikos