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Rapper and Chicago native Lil Durk offered to help pay the contracts of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and his son, Bronny, in order for them to join the Chicago Bulls during the 2024 offseason.
The Grammy Award-winning rapper revealed his Instagram messages with James, although the NBA’s all-time leading scorer did not respond to the request just yet.
Lil Durk offered to pay half of LeBron's salary to play for the Bulls 👀 pic.twitter.com/BeS19JkGei
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 25, 2024
The Bulls have already been active in the offseason, trading Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for guard Josh Giddey on Friday. James’ future with the Lakers is uncertain, as he has yet to make a decision on a $51.4 million player option for next season (via Spotrac).
However, Chicago doesn’t seem to be a realistic possibility for the four-time MVP. ESPN’s Bobby Marks noted that the Bulls were still over the cap after acquiring Giddey, making it extremely difficult to sign James.
Chicago also appears to be pivoting towards a younger roster built around Giddey and Coby White, which doesn’t match the timeline of the 39-year-old. Although James met with the Bulls during his famous 2010 free agency, that might not be the case again in 2024.
The team’s path to acquiring Bronny is also challenging, as the Bulls only own the No. 11 overall pick in the draft. That should be much higher than the 19-year-old’s range, as Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman linked James to the Lakers with the No. 55 pick in his most recent mock draft.
Despite rumors of the father-son duo teaming up in the NBA, Chicago may not be the location.
