LOS ANGELES — LeBron James has been a Laker longer than he has been with any other team consecutively.
That’s wild to think about. Many still think of LeBron as a young Cavalier, and he spent his first seven seasons with them before going to Miami for four years, winning two rings. He came back to Cleveland for four more years and another ring — but he has been a Laker for eight straight seasons. He hung a banner in Los Angeles as well.
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Now, that may be coming to an end.
“I don’t know what the future holds for me, honestly, as it stands right now, tonight,” LeBron said after his Lakers were eliminated at the hands of the Thunder. “I’ve got a lot of time now. I think I said it last year after we lost to Minnesota: I’ll go back and recalibrate with my family and talk with them and spend some time with them, and then when the time comes, obviously, you guys will know what I decide to do.”
What is next for LeBron? Let’s break it down.
Is LeBron James a free agent this summer?
Yes. LeBron and the Lakers did not agree to an extension last offseason, and both sides were comfortable reassessing their situation this summer, so LeBron is an unrestricted free agent. He can sign with any other team for any amount of money he is willing to accept.
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How big is LeBron’s next payday?
That is the biggest key in all of this: How much money is LeBron willing to sign for? He’s going to take a pay cut. The less he’s willing to take, the more options he will have.
He’s not going to make nearly as much as the $50.6 million he made last season (the teams with max cap space are not places he wants to go). That said, LeBron was still a legitimate All-Star-level player who averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.1 rebounds per game. He showed both a willingness to accept the role as the third offensive option when Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves were healthy, and an ability to step up and take over the offense for them in the playoffs when the other two were out — and he was the best player on the floor, lifting the Lakers past the Houston Rockets in the first round.
“I was put into some positions that I never played in my career before. Actually, in my life,” LeBron said of this season. “I’ve never been a third option in my life. So to be able to thrive in that role, for that period of time, and then have to step back into the role that I’ve been accustomed with over my career or my life playing the sport, and be able to thrive under that, and just my teammates allowing me to lead them under extreme circumstances, that was pretty cool for me at this stage of my career.”
Is LeBron willing to play for $30 million a season? The mid-level exception of $15 million? The taxpayer mid-level of $6.1 million? Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported LeBron would be willing to play for the veteran minimum in the right situation. Assuming LeBron wants to go to a contender, those teams are already built out and expensive, the less he is willing to take, the more options he will have.
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Where will LeBron James play next year?
He has options, let’s look at them.
Retirement
This is legitimately on the table, even if most people in league circles believe he will come back for another season. Believe him when he says he doesn’t know — and he doesn’t know if he’s “still in love with the process” enough to keep doing everything it takes to get his 41-year-old body ready to play at an NBA level. That said, he has nothing left to prove.
One part of this decision: LeBron may look at the landscape after the draft, after Giannis Antetokounmpo lands in a new home (he is the domino that has to fall first), after other trades shape contenders’ rosters, and decide he doesn’t like any of those options and walk away. Again, around the league, this is not the expected outcome, but it’s possible.
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Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron could stay in LA — he has built a life there, and a 16-2 stretch in March showed how good the Lakers could be with Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron are all on the same page.
“Of course, any team, including ours, would love to have LeBron James on their roster,” Lakers’ general manager and president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka said at his end-of-season press conference Tuesday. Later, he added that “The archetype of the roster that we want is going to be retrofitted around Luka and the things he needs.”
LeBron is not the Lakers’ top offseason priority. He’s a ways down the list, actually. Los Angeles needs to re-sign Reaves (likely for close to $40 million a season) and find a quality center plus two-way wings that will fit better around Doncic. Expect a major overhaul of the Lakers’ role players around their stars to better fit with Doncic’s style of play.
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LeBron might be part of that at a dramatically reduced price for a year, but the Lakers’ priorities are roster retooling, not LeBron.
Akron is still home, and a return to Cleveland, for all its sentimental value, makes some sense on the court as well. This is a good team but not one that looks like a contender. Could adding a quality veteran like LeBron — both in the locker room and on the court — help push Cleveland up to the level of New York, and next season likely bounce back years from Boston and Indiana? Maybe.
That said, the Cavaliers are the one team over the second apron this season, and whatever happens with the roster this offseason, it’s going to be a very expensive team again. LeBron would have to sign for the minimum, or the Lakers would have to work out a sign-and-trade, to make this happen.
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The Knicks don’t look like a team that needs LeBron to put them over the top — they have looked like the best team in the East this postseason. That said, he would be additive to them if he comes on a cheap enough contract to play a role behind Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. A season of LeBron in the bright lights of Madison Square Garden has an appeal for everyone, if he’ll do it for the right price and play a role. However, the Knicks don’t need him, and while teammates love him he does change team chemistry.
LeBron and Stephen Curry trying to recreate the magic of the Paris Olympics one more time? Why not? Warriors ownership has approached the Lakers in the past about a LeBron trade, and LeBron’s respect for Curry is unquestioned.
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This would be fun, it sells tickets in the Bay Area and it keeps LeBron on the West Coast close to his family. However, while it would be entertaining, this is not a team competing for an NBA title (with or without LeBron). How much does one more run at a ring matter to LeBron? Again, he’d have to take a serious pay cut to play there.
According to league sources, the four teams above — Lakers, Cavaliers, Warriors, Knicks — or retirement seem like the options on the table for LeBron. But what if Dallas approaches him about reuniting with Kyrie Irving and mentoring Cooper Flagg? What if Denver approaches him about pairing him with Nikola Jokic for a year (the passing on that team would be incredible)? What if the team that lands Antetokounmpo reaches out looking for veteran depth?
None of that is likely, but with the NBA offseason, expect the unexpected. There will be surprises. Maybe LeBron is one of them.
