LeBron James’ free agency is heating up with Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul confirming which teams are in consideration for his 24th season.
James’ eight-year chapter with the Los Angeles Lakers is finally over, and the 41-year-old forward is likely going to make one last major move before calling time on his legendary career.
The prospect of signing James without worrying about salary implications has brought 10 contending teams to the fold, according to Paul.
Rich Paul shares a whiteboard with 10 teams after LeBron James
On the Game Over podcast hosted by Paul and Max Kellerman, James’ agent and childhood friend shared a whiteboard which featured five teams in an inner circle and five more teams on the outer circle. These 10 teams have presumably reached out and are the finalists in James’ decision.
The 10 interested teams feature the Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs, and the Golden State Warriors.
The inner circle: 76ers, Cavs, Heat, Wolves, Nuggets
The first five teams in sight are three teams in the East and two in the West.
The 76ers can round their lineup out around Maxey, Brown, Edgecombe, and Embiid with LeBron at power forward and be the favorites in the East.
But the same can be said if LeBron rejoins the Heat to form a big three with Giannis and Adebayo, or if he goes home to Cleveland to form an All-Star starting five with Harden, Mitchell, Mobley, and Allen.
The West teams are small-market contenders in Denver and Minnesota.
LeBron has been friends with Josh Kroenke, the owner of the Nuggets, for years and could fill the glaring hole at small forward around Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
The Wolves would add James to the absence left by Julius Randle and Naz Reid, creating arguably the best starting five of all these options with LaMelo, Ant, McDaniels, and Gobert.
The outer circle: Mavericks, Celtics, Warriors, Spurs, Knicks
Surprisingly, the Warriors were listed on the outside circle despite being viewed as favorites by many. The appeal is obvious with Stephen Curry on the squad.
A bigger surprise is James entertaining a potential move to the Boston Celtics, a franchise he’s openly said he hates in the past. They have a clear winning project, but it’s hard to imagine this being a real consideration.
The Spurs and Knicks form two ends of the recent NBA Finals, and either would become easy title favorites if James joined.
The Mavericks have an appeal with former title-winning teammate Kyrie Irving, ascendant superstar Cooper Flagg, and respected executive Masai Ujiri.
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