21-time All-Star Los Angeles Lakers power forward LeBron James could enter unrestricted free agency this summer.
Following a second straight challenging 4-1 first-round playoff series loss, this time not to the Denver Nuggets for once (All-Stars Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle, and the rest of their Minnesota Timberwolves were the culprits this spring), the Lakers face a challenging summer.
Los Angeles needs to reconstruct its roster around its new most important player, five-time All-NBA First Team guard Luka Doncic (who, at 26, is 14 years James’ junior). Doncic clearly needs a rim-rolling lob threat.
He had two in the Dallas Mavericks’ Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II, and all they did during their first year together was reach the 2024 NBA Finals
So will James, who holds a $52.7 million player option in 2025-26, trust Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka to build a club that has a legitimate shot at a title next year?
That’s ultimately what this all comes down to. If he does choose to move on and ring-chase elsewhere, which clubs would enjoy him the most?
5. Houston Rockets
Houston has been the club most linked to nine-time All-Star Milwaukee Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, as it rode a 52-30 record this season to the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed. Of course, the Rockets’ lack of reliable late-game shot creation and clutch scoring at times usurped its terrific defense in their first-round matchup against an undersized Golden State Warriors team, and Houston fell in seven games.
The Rockets have the high-upside young players and draft assets to realistically make a trade bid for 30-year-old Antetokounmpo, but would signing James to a (massive) free agent discount deal be a solid consolation prize?
At 40, James lacks Antetokounmpo’s defensive wallop, and seems to run out of gas when playing major minutes in playoff games, but on this Rockets club, he could truly be put onto a more reasonable minutes plan, and be maximized as a closer.
James has the creation and passing abilities that Houston lacked in these playoffs, although the team couldn’t expect to grow with him for long.
The team has a $4.9 million club option on point guard Fred VanVleet, its best offensive player late into the Warriors series this year. Should the Rockets decline the option, the team could sign James to a solid deal, if not quite a max. Alternately James could agree to a mid-level exception.
4. New York Knicks
The Knicks currently, improbably, lead the Boston Celtics 2-0 in their ongoing second round playoff series, and could shockingly upset the reigning champs. But New York still has a major depth problem, with head coach Tom Thibodeau generally limiting his regular season rotation to seven players and overplaying his top four.
In the playoffs, to his credit, Thibodeau is doing a better job of pacing his stars.
But even if they beat Boston, can New York win two more playoff series en route to its first championship since 1973? Adding James to its first five and relegating Josh Harto the bench could hurt the club a little on defense, but would abet the team mightily on offense. He would have to take a severe discount here.
3. San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs don’t seem particularly close to winning it all next season, although with All-Star De’Aaron Fox now rostered next to 21-year-old All-Star center Victor Wembanyama, the play-in tournament or playoffs could be a realistic goal. San Antonio also has an outside chance of landing a massive future star in the 2025 NBA Draft, especially if it moves up in the lottery.
Would James be open to playing within an organization led by now-president Gregg Popovich, against whom he has suited up in three NBA Finals series (going 1-2), and for whom he has great respect?
Joining San Antonio would allow James to earn a better salary than he could for a lot of these other franchises, but it wouldn’t necessarily get him that elusive fifth title.
2. Golden State Warriors
James has long been linked to Golden State, in part because his rivalry against Warriors stars Stephen Curry and Draymond Green (they’ve played each other in five playoff series, during which James has gone 2-3) eventually blossomed into a bromance.
James would give his old rivals some major frontcourt size, although a core of James, 37-year-old Curry, 35-year-old Jimmy Butler, and 34-year-old Green would be so old that their survival through four playoff rounds would come into question. Just this season, James, Curry, and Butler all suffered major injuries during the playoffs.
1. Cleveland Cavaliers
This wouldn’t have seemed like such an obvious play if the Cavaliers, who captured the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed for the first time since the James era with a sparkling 64-18 record, weren’t trailing the Indiana Pacers 0-2 in their semifinal playoff series.
James would offers the exact kind of versatile scoring and passing help that Cleveland could use right now, with All-Stars Darius Garland and Evan Mobley hurt. The four-time league MVP would need to adjust to life as a third or even fourth option, and there would be some fit questions in terms of where he would slot in for the club’s frontcourt alongside Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
The Cleveland faithful would welcome a James return, and it would finally be as a true bonus piece in his 23rd season.
