Woj: The Lakers Front Office Has Been in Full Paul George and LeBron Mode From the "Day They Took Over"

We’ve been on LeBron-to-the-Lakers for over a month now, but Cavs fans kept burying their heads in the sand, thinking it was too long of a shot to be discussed.

Here we are, a month after my appearance on the Herd, and Cleveland is imploding. Jimmy Butler briefly wanted to play in Cleveland … then he didn’t. Carmelo Anthony had the Cavs as his destination … then suddenly he preferred Houston. The Cavs nearly landed Chauncey Billups as their next GM … and he passed.

It’s obvious to anyone with a brain: Butler, Anthony and Billups all checked in one way or another with LeBron or his camp about what the King would be doing in July 2018 … and he refused to commit to the Cavs.

It’s become so obvious to everyone in the NBA that LeBron was leaving Cleveland after this season, Kyrie Irving recently demanded a trade.

The Lakers continue to be the team that makes the most sense. Woj was on ESPN this week talking about how the Lakers new regime – Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka – has basically been in full Paul George and LeBron James mode from the day they took over.

"Their job is to make the Lakers a destination place again for the biggest free agents in the game. Lebron is going to be the biggest free agent in the game next year. The Lakers are going to be in full Paul George mode from now until July 1 next year … for Lebron, it’s started, and it started from the day they took over."

There’s nothing like a beautiful plan, perfectly executed, that leads to the best franchise in the NBA becoming dominant once again. From lucking into the #2 pick and Lonzo Ball, to being able to unload Timofey Mozgov’s ghastly contract, to the Warriors adding Kevin Durant, to Paul George not being All-NBA and missing a huge pay day … it’s all lining up for LeBron to head West in 2018.