LeBron James Linked To Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors If He Doesn’t Retire And Leaves Los Angeles Lakers
If LeBron James doesn’t retire from the NBA this offseason and chooses to leave the Los Angeles Lakers, he could join the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks or Golden State Warriors, according to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report.
James becomes an unrestricted free agent this offseason for the first time since 2018. The future Hall of Famer has ties to the Cavaliers, Warriors and Knicks.
Cleveland is James’ hometown team. The NBA legend has played for the Cavaliers twice and is the greatest player in franchise history.
Warriors stars Stephen Curry and Draymond Green are close friends with James, who has publicly said he would love to play with Curry and Green. Curry and James were teammates on Team USA in the summer of 2024 at the Paris Olympics and meshed well together.
Finally, Knicks president Leon Rose used to be James’ agent and New York head coach Mike Brown coached James in Cleveland.
Most people around the NBA believe James will either retire, re-sign with the Lakers or sign with the Cavaliers this offseason. The 41-year-old has been in the NBA since 2003. He’s a four-time MVP, four-time Finals MVP and four-time champion.
The Lakers are building around Luka Dončić now and plan to pursue a trade for Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo this offseason. Los Angeles also intends to re-sign Austin Reaves, who will become an unrestricted free agent after declining his 2026-27 player option.
James joined the Lakers in 2018 after playing for the Cavaliers from 2014-15 to 2017-18. The forward guided the franchise to the 2020 championship against the Miami Heat at the Walt Disney World bubble.
Los Angeles also reached the 2023 Western Conference Finals, a series James and Co. lost to the Denver Nuggets in four games.
It will be fascinating to see what James does this offseason. The Akron native is currently averaging 21.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game this season for the Lakers, who are in sixth place in the West.
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