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LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers
When it comes to what will happen with Lakers star LeBron James once this season is over, for the first time in the past eight years, there is some uncertainty. James can become a free-agent after the season, and while the team has typically just rubber-stamped a new deal for James whenever the topic has come up, there have been rumblings all year that he might be ready to go elsewhere.
And that the Lakers are willing to let him walk and use their resources on younger targets.
Now, there are not a lot of places where James would like to go, and there are not all that many places he’d fit. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, speaking about James’ future this week, highlighted the obvious one, would be a return to Cleveland for a third stint in his career. Getting James onto the roster in Cleveland would be a challenge, but it obviously would be on his list.
Windhorst also mentioned the Miami Heat, where James played from 2010-2014 and won two championships. There was animosity from the Heat when James left in 2014, but those hatchets have been buried. What is lacking, though, is a title-ready roster in Miami.
And finally, there is the pairing the NBA would love to see, James in Golden State with Stephen Curry.
At Least 2 Wildcards in Mix for LeBron James
But Windhorst also said there could be more places to which the Lakers star could escape.
“There’s a place of two that I won’t say right now that I’m keeping my eye on. I have a team or two that I think he could consider going to and I have researched the concept and I will continue to keep my eye on the concept,” he said.
Indeed, there are a few other places that have been floating in the ether where James might like to play. A lot of it depends on the mechanism with which James goes to a new team — will he take a minimum contract? A midlevel deal? Will he be in a sign-and-trade or an opt-and-trade?
That would obviously affect the candidates. We took a look at those here …
4 Spots That Lead the Way in NBA Rumors
New York Knicks. James has not been shy about saying that he loves to play at Madison Square Garden, and those who were around during his 2010 free agency will remember that it was a near foregone conclusion that he was heading to the Knicks. But he picked Miami instead, and the Knicks’ fallback option was Amare Stoudemire and Raymond Felton.
“His history kind of says that is where he would want to go, and there was some talk about, OK if the Lakers did trade him, would he waive his (no-trade clause)?” one Eastern Conference executive said. “And everybody expected he would for the Knicks. It never came to that but, it could have.”
Brooklyn Nets. This is speculation, but the Nets do have cap space to give to James and they have the assets to send out to try to make a trade for a player James would want to team up with. It is not MSG but it is New York. The question is, how many times are the Nets going to be suckered into building failed superteams?
Dallas Mavericks. If Mark Cuban had gotten the reins of the team back, this would be a more realistic spot. Cuban did pitch James on coming to Dallas, and the idea did intrigue James. Certainly, playing with No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg and for head coach Jason Kidd would, too. “If I was trying to pick where (James) would wind up, yeah, they’d be on the list. Not the No. 1 choice. But on the list.”
LA Clippers. Maybe James just slides his locker across town to Intuit and link up with Kawhi Leonard and coach Ty Lue. He would not need to change home addresses.
GettyCooper Flagg of the Dallas Mavericks.
4 Longshot Locales for LeBron James
Boston Celtics. While Celtics great Paul Pierce has never missed an opportunity to take a swipe at James and while fans in Boston still wear T-shirts to games besmirching James’s name, the hatred there is one-sided. James has always respected the Celtics and their tradition. There’s a near-zero chance the Celtics would bring James in–he does not fit a Jayson Tatum–Jaylen Brown roster–but he probably would consider it.
Houston Rockets. James and Kevin Durant are not pals, but it would be fascinating to see the two ride out their careers together, with Fred VanVleet at point guard and the Rockets’ young talent around them.
San Antonio Spurs. James has had an affinity for Gregg Popovich for a long time, so this might have seemed a more realistic possibility before the coach’s departure–and before the Spurs loaded themselves up on talent. There would not be much room for James with this bunch.
Chicago Bulls. There’s a reason James wears 23. Massive longshot, but why not finish out his career in the House That Mike Built?
Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney
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