LeBron James to LA? 6 Reasons Why He Will and Won't Join the Lakers

LeBron James to LA? 6 Reasons Why He Will and Won't Join the Lakers

Given that the Lakers are one of the lead contenders to sign LeBron James, here six reasons why he will and won't sign with them including cap space, projected rosters, and more.

Given that the Lakers are one of the lead contenders to sign LeBron James, here six reasons why he will and won't sign with them including cap space, projected rosters, and more.

With the NBA Finals over and the Warriors carving their legacy as a dynasty, the question on everyone's mind is which team LeBron James will sign with in free agency. The New York Times' Marc Stein recently reported that LeBron's top priority is "chasing championships". Moreover, Bleacher Report's Howard Beck wrote that league sources believe the Lakers, Rockets, and 76ers are the "leading contenders" to acquire him with the Spurs and Heat to also "get a look". According to Odds Shark, the Lakers are +200 favorites to land the King. Considering the Purple and Gold as a lead contender to snatch the superstar, here are six reasons why he will and won't come to the Lakers.

1. Will: Cap Space

According to Spotrac.com, the NBA's salary cap next season will be at $101M and the luxury tax threshold will be at $123M. It also says the Lakers have by far the most practical cap space in the league at $61.86 million, with the Chicago Bulls at $41.5 million and the Philadelphia 76ers at $30.5 million rounding out the top three. Barring anything absolutely crazy, King James will sign with the max of 35% of the cap per year ($35.6M next season) for the next 4 years. Let's breakdown how the key contenders can acquire LeBron.

76ers

For Philly, Joel Embiid's bird rights exception along with others allows them to go over the cap and sign LeBron straight up without going into the luxury tax. If they do so, their payroll would be at roughly $106.1M. That would give them 12 players under contract. If they want to re-sign J.J. Redick, they can do so for less than $17M for next season to stay under the luxury tax mark and roll back the rest of the roster.

Rockets

On the other hand, Houston, who currently sit at roughly $22M in practical cap space, need to dump Ryan Anderson's $41.5M over the next two seasons and Eric Gordon's $27.5M over the next two seasons in order to sign James and re-sign Chris Paul, who will not sign for "anything less than the max" according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

While it is feasible for them to get this done, it is still a gargantuan obstacle for even a great general manager like Daryl Morey. It is possible Houston can decide to exceed the luxury tax threshold and pay the extra fees, but they will have to basically gut their entire roster to make this happen.

Lakers

Like the Sixers, the Lake Show can sign LeBron James without trades. They currently have only $39.14M due in salary next season. Tyler Ennis ($1.66M), Ivica Zubac ($1.54M), and Thomas Bryant ($1.38M) all have non-guaranteed contracts for next season. Ennis probably won't be back and Zubac might not either. Bryant has a decent chance to stay, but it is not certain at all. If Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka sign James, they could also add Paul George (at $30.3M next season, aka 30% of the salary cap) and still have about $17.9M to $21.15M left to spend, depending on exceptions in contracts (bird rights, mid-level, etc.), before reaching the luxury tax.

The Lakers could still re-sign Julius Randle for anything under that $21.15M mark before hitting the luxury tax. Theoretically, their roster would include James, George, Ball, Ingram, Randle, Kuzma, Hart, Bryant, Deng, and the 25th pick. Like the Rockets, the Lakers may be willing to pay some luxury tax money. To create more salary relief, they could trade Luol Deng and a couple 1st round picks for a future 2nd-rounder to a rebuilding team with cap space that wants draft picks like Atlanta, Chicago, or Sacramento. Deng is cheaper than Ryan Anderson by $2 million a year and also has two years left on his deal. The Lakers have a 1st round pick in this draft while Houston does not, which is another advantage. The Lakers could also always sign and trade Randle along with Deng to accumulate more assets. The Lakers' flexibility gives them a huge advantage.

Heat and Spurs

For next season, the Miami Heat are about $22M over the luxury tax threshold, so LeBron would have to waive his "no trade" clause and allow a sign-and-trade between Miami and Cleveland. This is probably unlikely considering Miami has no other current or future star. Their only advantage over all of these teams is LeBron's familiarity with Pat Riley and Micky Arison, but that is probably a miniscule factor.

For the Spurs, they are currently $2M under the cap, but if Danny Green ($10M) and Rudy Gay ($8.8M) decline their player options for next season and become unrestricted free agents, that makes things a lot juicier for the Spurs. If they both decline, the Spurs could sign LeBron and be under the luxury tax mark while having 10 players under contract, 9 if Joffrey Lauvergne ($1.66M) also declines his player option. San Antonio could always trade Pau Gasol ($16M next season and only $6.7 of $16M are guaranteed the following season) and draft picks (including the 18th pick) to those rebuilding teams mentioned earlier. For a rebuilding team looking to swallow a big contract to accumulate draft picks, the Spurs have the highest tradable draft pick (18th pick vs 25th pick for LA) and lowest tradable fat contract (Gasol vs Deng and Anderson).

Conclusion

The Lakers have the most flexibility to sign LeBron while maintaining a great roster around him. The Sixers are the only other teams mentioned here that can sign LeBron and not make trades to make him fit and stay under the luxury tax line. Unlike the Sixers, the Lakers have an extra max cap slot to add Paul George or possibly Chris Paul, whom LeBron would be interested in collaborating with on the Lakers, according to the same Marc Stein report stated earlier. Some of the key variables here are which owners are willing to pay the luxury tax, and how much. With few questions about their payroll for next year and the flexibility to make moves this offseason, it makes sense for LeBron to take his talents to Tinseltown.

2. Will: Projected Rosters

You are probably thinking, "Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard, and the James Harden/Chris Paul duo are all more valuable than any player on the Lakers." Yes, you are absolutely right, but a roster is more than one team having the best player. As we saw in the playoffs, LeBron James was arguably better than anyone on the Warriors in the Finals and lost. Embiid was better than any player on the Celtics and lost. Roster is absolutely about talent, but also about fit. Let's see how each of these teams' rosters would look like and fit together if they added the King.

Rockets

As mentioned earlier, a lot has to go right for Houston to have the cap space to sign LeBron James. Even then they need to completely revamp the rest of a roster that made the Western Conference Finals and find adequate replacement role players at the veteran minimum. If Houston is not willing to go far into the luxury tax, they would theoretically have three superstars and a bunch of Lincoln Logs. They would need to convince lots of guys to come taking big pay cuts.

Spurs

The Spurs need to hope Danny Green and Rudy Gay opt out to become unrestricted free agents and have a deal to send Pau Gasol with a draft pick to create cap space. If that happens, maybe Green and/or Gay re-sign taking pay cuts, aka the Spurs way. Aldridge is coming off his best season in the Silver and Black. Kawhi may or may not be healthy and his relationship with the team does not seem like it is necessarily the best these days. Dejounte Murray was just named to the All-NBA Defensive 2nd Team, but he is also not much of an offensive threat. He only averaged 8 points per game on .4 3PAs per game and shot 45% from 2.

If they bring back Green on the cheap, he, Murray, Kawhi, LeBron, and Aldridge would be a defensive juggernaut with average-at-best spacing/shooting and not much playmaking outside of LeBron on offense. The Spurs could potentially start the more offensive-minded Patty Mills instead of Murray. With LeBron, the Spurs do not need a traditional lead guard. Mills could be sort of like what Mario Chalmers was in Miami. Without Gasol, the Spurs would have a very thin big-man rotation. Overall, this is a very good roster with a lot of question marks.

76ers

Ben Simmons, Robert Covington, LeBron James, Dario Saric, and Joel Embiid looks great on paper. However, they have some question marks. Embiid's health will continue to be an albatross. He played a career high 63 game last season, which is unimpressive for a career high in games played. Ben Simmons provides LeBron no spacing, but he can mitigate ball-handling duties and set up James. Covington is a streaky shooter and a bloodhound on defense. Saric is a great complement for LBJ because he is 6'10" who can take a big man out of the paint. Embiid is tricky even when healthy because he does not space the floor much (30% from 3 this season) and demands touches in the paint. LeBron loves having spacing and it is unclear if Philly can provide that for him. They might have to re-sign Redick to bring him off the bench or start him instead of Covington. Like San Antonio, they would fantastic defensively, but their lack of shooting would allow teams to shrink their defenses and sag off, thus closing off passing and driving lanes and creating more double teams.

Lakers

LeBron James along with possibly Paul George, Julius Randle, Lonzo Ball, and Brandon Ingram would be a very interesting starting lineup. Everyone is 6'6"-6'9" and can switch everything defensively. George, like Kawhi Leonard, is an ideal 3-D wing that is perfect next to LeBron. He is absolutely not as good as Kawhi, but the Spurs star may not be healthy and/or may want out of San Antonio. Ball is a fantastic defensive and pass-first guard like Ben Simmons. Unlike Simmons, Ball has shown an ability to hit spot up 3s. Per NBA.com, Lonzo had an average 51% eFG% on spot ups this season, which will only get better since he was only a rookie. Ingram has not yet shown an ability to be a knockdown shooter. Even though he shot 39% from 3, it was only on 1.8 attempts per game. He ended the season on a strong note with a decent 56% true shooting percentage (TS%) over his final 26 games. Julius Randle had a breakout year as one of the best switching defenders in the league while also being in the rare 25% usage rate and 60% TS% club. Anthony Davis, James Harden, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry were the only others in that club last season.

Off the bench, the Lakers would have shooting with Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart, with the latter also providing solid defense. Kuzma did play better on D towards the end of the season, but he still has work to do. The Lakers will have plenty of shooting, playmaking, and switching on defense, which are all vital skills in today's NBA. Rim protection might be an issue, but Randle was decent enough last year helping in the paint. During his exit interview, Brook Lopez was asked if he would come back to take a pay cut if the Lakers added star free agents. He said, "I might be." Lopez was a very good rim protector and shot 36.7% from 3 after the all-star break. In the 34 wins he played in, he shot 40.9% from 3, although just 27% in 40 losses. Adding LeBron easily equals more wins and not many players find open shooters as well as LeBron. Lopez may not shoot 40% from 3 over the course of a year, but him protecting the rim and shooting 36-38% from 3 would be extremely valuable off the bench.

Conclusion

Due to the amount of versatility on the Lakers versus these other teams, LeBron might see LA as the best fit for him. They have question marks like the other teams, but they also have a lot more certainty and skill sets that win in the modern NBA.

3. Will: General Manager

Philadelphia and the Lakers are the only teams in contention to sign LeBron that can add him sign him outright without trading anybody to create room. Philadelphia should have a GM before the draft, but it will really depend on who it is. If the Sixers do not choose wisely, LeBron will surely turn his head away from them.

4. Won't: General Manager

Wait, how can a "will" become a "won't" just like that? One of the best GM candidates on the market right now for Philadelphia is David Griffin, ex-Cavaliers GM who built their 2016 championship team. According to The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor, Griffin is one of the leading candidates for the job. Given his relationship with LeBron James and the moves he pulled to help the King, that could significantly sway LBJ to the City of Brotherly Love.

5. Won't: Big 3 in Houston

Yes, they will probably play with a bunch of Lincoln Logs. Maybe, they get one or two good players on veteran minimum contracts and go into the luxury tax. A LeBron, Harden, and CP3 trio would be one of the best big 3s of all time. The 2008 Celtics had a big 3 with the rest of their roster on very cheap deals and they won the championship in their first year together. Houston's potential trio would be even better. The only question would be if they can beat Golden State. Considering how all of those guys are either in their primes or close to them, they would be extremely lethal. If Houston can possibly retain Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute on extremely cheap deals along with other meager signings, this could be an incredible squad. This is a big if, but still a possible one.

6. Won't: Coaches

Luke Walton is a good coach. Sometimes his rotations are questionable, but he turned a terrible defensive team into a good one and got better offense out of them as the season went on. However, Gregg Popovich is arguably the greatest coach in any sport ever. It is cliche but he gets the best out of all his players. LaMarcus Aldridge looked like his career was going downhill, but then Pop talked to him and put him in position to have arguably the best season of his career this past year. It is no secret Pop and LeBron have had a strong relationship for years. Having him in a free agency meeting along with great GM R.C. Buford is something that maybe no team can match. Maybe getting LeBron will cheer up Kawhi.

Are the Lakers the Top Destination for LeBron?

This is complicated because the draft is in about two weeks and free agency starts in about three weeks. That is a lot of time for teams to take advantages in the LeBron sweepstakes. As of right now, due to their combination of cap flexibility, front office, coaching, and complementary roster talents, the Lakers are probably the best bet to land the King for now. Especially since the Rockets and Spurs do not currently have the cap space and the Sixers do not currently have a GM, LAL has to be the favorites by default. This could change several times before he actually chooses a team. With a highly competitive mad dash amongst several teams, one thing is certain: chaos and drama will arise, thus shifting the landscape of next season's championship race.

With the NBA Finals over and the Warriors carving their legacy as a dynasty, the question on everyone's mind is which team LeBron James will sign with in free agency. The New York Times' Marc Stein recently reported that LeBron's top priority is "chasing championships". Moreover, Bleacher Report's Howard Beck wrote that league sources believe the Lakers, Rockets, and 76ers are the "leading contenders" to acquire him with the Spurs and Heat to also "get a look". According to Odds Shark, the Lakers are +200 favorites to land the King. Considering the Purple and Gold as a lead contender to snatch the superstar, here are six reasons why he will and won't come to the Lakers.

1. Will: Cap Space

According to Spotrac.com, the NBA's salary cap next season will be at $101M and the luxury tax threshold will be at $123M. It also says the Lakers have by far the most practical cap space in the league at $61.86 million, with the Chicago Bulls at $41.5 million and the Philadelphia 76ers at $30.5 million rounding out the top three. Barring anything absolutely crazy, King James will sign with the max of 35% of the cap per year ($35.6M next season) for the next 4 years. Let's breakdown how the key contenders can acquire LeBron.

76ers

For Philly, Joel Embiid's bird rights exception along with others allows them to go over the cap and sign LeBron straight up without going into the luxury tax. If they do so, their payroll would be at roughly $106.1M. That would give them 12 players under contract. If they want to re-sign J.J. Redick, they can do so for less than $17M for next season to stay under the luxury tax mark and roll back the rest of the roster.

Rockets

On the other hand, Houston, who currently sit at roughly $22M in practical cap space, need to dump Ryan Anderson's $41.5M over the next two seasons and Eric Gordon's $27.5M over the next two seasons in order to sign James and re-sign Chris Paul, who will not sign for "anything less than the max" according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

While it is feasible for them to get this done, it is still a gargantuan obstacle for even a great general manager like Daryl Morey. It is possible Houston can decide to exceed the luxury tax threshold and pay the extra fees, but they will have to basically gut their entire roster to make this happen.

Lakers

Like the Sixers, the Lake Show can sign LeBron James without trades. They currently have only $39.14M due in salary next season. Tyler Ennis ($1.66M), Ivica Zubac ($1.54M), and Thomas Bryant ($1.38M) all have non-guaranteed contracts for next season. Ennis probably won't be back and Zubac might not either. Bryant has a decent chance to stay, but it is not certain at all. If Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka sign James, they could also add Paul George (at $30.3M next season, aka 30% of the salary cap) and still have about $17.9M to $21.15M left to spend, depending on exceptions in contracts (bird rights, mid-level, etc.), before reaching the luxury tax.

The Lakers could still re-sign Julius Randle for anything under that $21.15M mark before hitting the luxury tax. Theoretically, their roster would include James, George, Ball, Ingram, Randle, Kuzma, Hart, Bryant, Deng, and the 25th pick. Like the Rockets, the Lakers may be willing to pay some luxury tax money. To create more salary relief, they could trade Luol Deng and a couple 1st round picks for a future 2nd-rounder to a rebuilding team with cap space that wants draft picks like Atlanta, Chicago, or Sacramento. Deng is cheaper than Ryan Anderson by $2 million a year and also has two years left on his deal. The Lakers have a 1st round pick in this draft while Houston does not, which is another advantage. The Lakers could also always sign and trade Randle along with Deng to accumulate more assets. The Lakers' flexibility gives them a huge advantage.

Heat and Spurs

For next season, the Miami Heat are about $22M over the luxury tax threshold, so LeBron would have to waive his "no trade" clause and allow a sign-and-trade between Miami and Cleveland. This is probably unlikely considering Miami has no other current or future star. Their only advantage over all of these teams is LeBron's familiarity with Pat Riley and Micky Arison, but that is probably a miniscule factor.

For the Spurs, they are currently $2M under the cap, but if Danny Green ($10M) and Rudy Gay ($8.8M) decline their player options for next season and become unrestricted free agents, that makes things a lot juicier for the Spurs. If they both decline, the Spurs could sign LeBron and be under the luxury tax mark while having 10 players under contract, 9 if Joffrey Lauvergne ($1.66M) also declines his player option. San Antonio could always trade Pau Gasol ($16M next season and only $6.7 of $16M are guaranteed the following season) and draft picks (including the 18th pick) to those rebuilding teams mentioned earlier. For a rebuilding team looking to swallow a big contract to accumulate draft picks, the Spurs have the highest tradable draft pick (18th pick vs 25th pick for LA) and lowest tradable fat contract (Gasol vs Deng and Anderson).

Conclusion

The Lakers have the most flexibility to sign LeBron while maintaining a great roster around him. The Sixers are the only other teams mentioned here that can sign LeBron and not make trades to make him fit and stay under the luxury tax line. Unlike the Sixers, the Lakers have an extra max cap slot to add Paul George or possibly Chris Paul, whom LeBron would be interested in collaborating with on the Lakers, according to the same Marc Stein report stated earlier. Some of the key variables here are which owners are willing to pay the luxury tax, and how much. With few questions about their payroll for next year and the flexibility to make moves this offseason, it makes sense for LeBron to take his talents to Tinseltown.

2. Will: Projected Rosters

You are probably thinking, "Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard, and the James Harden/Chris Paul duo are all more valuable than any player on the Lakers." Yes, you are absolutely right, but a roster is more than one team having the best player. As we saw in the playoffs, LeBron James was arguably better than anyone on the Warriors in the Finals and lost. Embiid was better than any player on the Celtics and lost. Roster is absolutely about talent, but also about fit. Let's see how each of these teams' rosters would look like and fit together if they added the King.

Rockets

As mentioned earlier, a lot has to go right for Houston to have the cap space to sign LeBron James. Even then they need to completely revamp the rest of a roster that made the Western Conference Finals and find adequate replacement role players at the veteran minimum. If Houston is not willing to go far into the luxury tax, they would theoretically have three superstars and a bunch of Lincoln Logs. They would need to convince lots of guys to come taking big pay cuts.

Spurs

The Spurs need to hope Danny Green and Rudy Gay opt out to become unrestricted free agents and have a deal to send Pau Gasol with a draft pick to create cap space. If that happens, maybe Green and/or Gay re-sign taking pay cuts, aka the Spurs way. Aldridge is coming off his best season in the Silver and Black. Kawhi may or may not be healthy and his relationship with the team does not seem like it is necessarily the best these days. Dejounte Murray was just named to the All-NBA Defensive 2nd Team, but he is also not much of an offensive threat. He only averaged 8 points per game on .4 3PAs per game and shot 45% from 2.

If they bring back Green on the cheap, he, Murray, Kawhi, LeBron, and Aldridge would be a defensive juggernaut with average-at-best spacing/shooting and not much playmaking outside of LeBron on offense. The Spurs could potentially start the more offensive-minded Patty Mills instead of Murray. With LeBron, the Spurs do not need a traditional lead guard. Mills could be sort of like what Mario Chalmers was in Miami. Without Gasol, the Spurs would have a very thin big-man rotation. Overall, this is a very good roster with a lot of question marks.

76ers

Ben Simmons, Robert Covington, LeBron James, Dario Saric, and Joel Embiid looks great on paper. However, they have some question marks. Embiid's health will continue to be an albatross. He played a career high 63 game last season, which is unimpressive for a career high in games played. Ben Simmons provides LeBron no spacing, but he can mitigate ball-handling duties and set up James. Covington is a streaky shooter and a bloodhound on defense. Saric is a great complement for LBJ because he is 6'10" who can take a big man out of the paint. Embiid is tricky even when healthy because he does not space the floor much (30% from 3 this season) and demands touches in the paint. LeBron loves having spacing and it is unclear if Philly can provide that for him. They might have to re-sign Redick to bring him off the bench or start him instead of Covington. Like San Antonio, they would fantastic defensively, but their lack of shooting would allow teams to shrink their defenses and sag off, thus closing off passing and driving lanes and creating more double teams.

Lakers

LeBron James along with possibly Paul George, Julius Randle, Lonzo Ball, and Brandon Ingram would be a very interesting starting lineup. Everyone is 6'6"-6'9" and can switch everything defensively. George, like Kawhi Leonard, is an ideal 3-D wing that is perfect next to LeBron. He is absolutely not as good as Kawhi, but the Spurs star may not be healthy and/or may want out of San Antonio. Ball is a fantastic defensive and pass-first guard like Ben Simmons. Unlike Simmons, Ball has shown an ability to hit spot up 3s. Per NBA.com, Lonzo had an average 51% eFG% on spot ups this season, which will only get better since he was only a rookie. Ingram has not yet shown an ability to be a knockdown shooter. Even though he shot 39% from 3, it was only on 1.8 attempts per game. He ended the season on a strong note with a decent 56% true shooting percentage (TS%) over his final 26 games. Julius Randle had a breakout year as one of the best switching defenders in the league while also being in the rare 25% usage rate and 60% TS% club. Anthony Davis, James Harden, LeBron James, Kevin Love, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry were the only others in that club last season.

Off the bench, the Lakers would have shooting with Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart, with the latter also providing solid defense. Kuzma did play better on D towards the end of the season, but he still has work to do. The Lakers will have plenty of shooting, playmaking, and switching on defense, which are all vital skills in today's NBA. Rim protection might be an issue, but Randle was decent enough last year helping in the paint. During his exit interview, Brook Lopez was asked if he would come back to take a pay cut if the Lakers added star free agents. He said, "I might be." Lopez was a very good rim protector and shot 36.7% from 3 after the all-star break. In the 34 wins he played in, he shot 40.9% from 3, although just 27% in 40 losses. Adding LeBron easily equals more wins and not many players find open shooters as well as LeBron. Lopez may not shoot 40% from 3 over the course of a year, but him protecting the rim and shooting 36-38% from 3 would be extremely valuable off the bench.

Conclusion

Due to the amount of versatility on the Lakers versus these other teams, LeBron might see LA as the best fit for him. They have question marks like the other teams, but they also have a lot more certainty and skill sets that win in the modern NBA.

3. Will: General Manager

Philadelphia and the Lakers are the only teams in contention to sign LeBron that can add him sign him outright without trading anybody to create room. Philadelphia should have a GM before the draft, but it will really depend on who it is. If the Sixers do not choose wisely, LeBron will surely turn his head away from them.

4. Won't: General Manager

Wait, how can a "will" become a "won't" just like that? One of the best GM candidates on the market right now for Philadelphia is David Griffin, ex-Cavaliers GM who built their 2016 championship team. According to The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor, Griffin is one of the leading candidates for the job. Given his relationship with LeBron James and the moves he pulled to help the King, that could significantly sway LBJ to the City of Brotherly Love.

5. Won't: Big 3 in Houston

Yes, they will probably play with a bunch of Lincoln Logs. Maybe, they get one or two good players on veteran minimum contracts and go into the luxury tax. A LeBron, Harden, and CP3 trio would be one of the best big 3s of all time. The 2008 Celtics had a big 3 with the rest of their roster on very cheap deals and they won the championship in their first year together. Houston's potential trio would be even better. The only question would be if they can beat Golden State. Considering how all of those guys are either in their primes or close to them, they would be extremely lethal. If Houston can possibly retain Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute on extremely cheap deals along with other meager signings, this could be an incredible squad. This is a big if, but still a possible one.

6. Won't: Coaches

Luke Walton is a good coach. Sometimes his rotations are questionable, but he turned a terrible defensive team into a good one and got better offense out of them as the season went on. However, Gregg Popovich is arguably the greatest coach in any sport ever. It is cliche but he gets the best out of all his players. LaMarcus Aldridge looked like his career was going downhill, but then Pop talked to him and put him in position to have arguably the best season of his career this past year. It is no secret Pop and LeBron have had a strong relationship for years. Having him in a free agency meeting along with great GM R.C. Buford is something that maybe no team can match. Maybe getting LeBron will cheer up Kawhi.

Are the Lakers the Top Destination for LeBron?

This is complicated because the draft is in about two weeks and free agency starts in about three weeks. That is a lot of time for teams to take advantages in the LeBron sweepstakes. As of right now, due to their combination of cap flexibility, front office, coaching, and complementary roster talents, the Lakers are probably the best bet to land the King for now. Especially since the Rockets and Spurs do not currently have the cap space and the Sixers do not currently have a GM, LAL has to be the favorites by default. This could change several times before he actually chooses a team. With a highly competitive mad dash amongst several teams, one thing is certain: chaos and drama will arise, thus shifting the landscape of next season's championship race.

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