Next for LeBron James? The shorter-than-you-think list of potential destinations

LeBron James may be on the move, and how often have we been able to say that?

In 2010, when he made The Decision to take his talents to South Beach. In 2014, when we had an inkling he would leave the Miami Heat for a return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. And in 2018, when all signs pointed to him joining the Los Angeles Lakers.

That’s right: LeBron’s future has not been this uncertain since 2010, so you could have your driver’s license right now and not remember when he joined the Heatles.

It’s been a minute.

An obligatory reminder: James will turn 42 years old in December. He is no longer the game’s best player, though he is still somehow one of its (let’s say …) 25 best, and this season he accepted a role, which made him the NBA’s best third option for a stretch.

He was not that in the playoffs, when the absences of Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves demanded he reassume the throne as a primary playmaker on offense, and that was too much for James to handle, at least in a Western Conference semifinal.

On the dais for his media exit interview, after his team was swept by the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, James did not sound ready for retirement, though he did say he was uncertain about his future. That uncertainty probably has more to do with whether he will be a Laker next season and not whether he will be playing.

This begs a question: Will LeBron James accept a salary commensurate with the complementary role he would need to play for a team to be a serious title contender? We may not know the answer to that until he decides for which team he will play.

Still, we can imagine the shorter-than-you-think list of options available to him. Let’s run them down.

Los Angeles Lakers

If he re-signs in L.A., it will surely be for more money than the Lakers should be willing to pay for his services. What is James worth? When it comes to selling tickets, there is no cap on what he could command, and the Lakers will take that into consideration.

When it comes to team-building, though, think of Derrick White, a clear-cut third option behind Boston Celtics superstars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. He will make $30 million next season, and even that will make roster construction difficult when the two highest-paid players on the team each command $60 million annually.

James made $52.6 million this season. Is he going to want to take a $20-something million pay cut to rejoin a team that proved to have a sub-championship ceiling with him as a third option? (No one really thought the Lakers could contend with OKC, even with Dončić, did they?) On the other hand, there isn’t a lot of salary cap space available this summer — at least with good teams — to leverage against the Lakers.

Maybe he convinces himself, if he gives up salary, the Lakers could reallocate those funds to bring in better pieces around him, Dončić and Reaves. More likely, though, the Lakers will end up committing something close to the projected salary cap ($165 million) to Dončić, James and Reaves, who can also be a free agent at season’s end.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles’ front office will be left scrambling to put the proper pieces around them, and it still may not be enough to contend with OKC or the San Antonio Spurs, considering the defensive issues inherent to fielding those three players, and an over-reliance on the health of a highly paid trio, one of whom will be 42 years old.

Cleveland Cavaliers

So, maybe LeBron decides: F*** it, if I’m going to give up $20 million in salary to be on a try-hard contender, why not give up even more to be on a more serious contender?

After all, the man is worth a billion dollars, and if he were to accept, say, a midlevel exception in the range of $6-15 million, he could open his possibilities to every team in the NBA. One of those organizations, of course, could be his hometown Cavaliers, with whom he began his 23-year career, and delivered the team’s only championship.

If we know anything from watching James over the past quarter-century, it is that he would welcome a retirement tour and all the adulation that comes along with it, and what a story that would be in Cleveland. This decision will have its own narrative to it.

Not only do the Cavs have a need on the wing, where James could be paired with Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen on an immediate contender, but they could go even bigger-game hunting, flipping Mobley for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Wouldn’t that be something? Mitchell, Harden, LeBron and Giannis.

It’s possible. We can dream.

Then again, anything is possible, including the union of James and Stephen Curry. Anyone who watched them take on the world for Team USA in the 2024 Olympics could see the appreciation they have for each other’s games, which merge so well.

Make the Bay Area a destination for every player aging gracefully. They already boast Curry, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler, Al Horford and Kristaps Porziņģis, a collection of players whose ages and injury histories have left them all in need of each other.

Maybe by joining forces they can compete with the next generation. Open the doors to all past-their-prime stars; see if they can restore each other. Kawhi Leonard? Kevin Durant? Mike Conley? DeMar DeRozan? Put a call out for one last job. Who’s down?

It’s hard to imagine James venturing too far from home, whether it is Cleveland or Los Angeles, where his business and family are established (including his oldest son, Bronny, who is under guaranteed $2.3 million contract with the Lakers next season).

But maybe San Francisco isn’t so far from L.A., at least in the NBA sense. Curry is there. Draymond is there. Steve Kerr is there. These are all people LeBron respects, and that is a big part of this. LeBron will not join an unknown commodity at this age.

Then again, James has always been enamored with Madison Square Garden, where the lights are brightest. He once told Dwyane Wade his career would end either in L.A. or New York, and the Knicks might need reinforcements if they fall short of a title.

With OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns already in place, the Knicks do not have much room at a swing position for James, but sometimes you make way for one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He would find his way to fit on the basketball court, so long as all of the egos in New York could mesh off of it.

And that’s another thing (there’s always another thing when it comes to LeBron): James doesn’t just join a locker room. He commands it. The amount of attention he draws, for better or worse, is incredible. Not every city can handle it. New York can.

Would James dream of choosing a plug-and-play situation in which he could be the missing piece to a contender, because I’m just imagining him in Tobias Harris’ spot.

Now, I doubt he would take his talents to Detroit, but in a basketball sense it follows. Same goes for the Nuggets. Just picture LeBron in place of Cam Johnson, and what magic might he and Nikola Jokić make on a basketball court. Let’s get really crazy.

Oklahoma City Thunder

How funny would that be? Just sign for the minimum, play a few minutes a night, and collect a couple more rings on the other side of a light workload. Anything’s possible.

Most likely, though, James returns to the Lakers, at least according to oddsmakers.