Free agency isn’t technically allowed to begin until LeBron James gets messy, according to Page 384 of the NBA’s latest collective bargaining agreement. Luckily, the King got a head start on that Sunday.
Shortly after ESPN’s Shams Charania broke the news that LeBron would be picking up his $52.6 million player option, he shared some eyebrow-raising comments from Klutch Sports superagent Rich Paul about LeBron’s future.
“LeBron wants to compete for a championship,” Paul told ESPN. “He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we’ve had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.
“We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what’s best for him.”
The Lakers are now firmly building around Luka Dončić moving forward, which means they might not be in full-fledged win-now mode anymore. They need to keep a longer timeline in mind, but the 40-year-old James doesn’t have that time to waste. So, yes, there’s a non-zero chance that LeBron just soft-launched a trade request.
James has a full no-trade clause, which will effectively allow him to pick his next team. Sorry, Utah and other rebuilding teams, but there’s no need for you to join the bidding if he does eventually make a formal trade request. LeBron will want to join a team that’s equipped to compete for a championship right away.
With that in mind, we’ve cooked up five hypothetical trade frameworks to at least show how to make the financial math work for each team.
Cleveland Cavaliers
If LeBron does want out of L.A., would there be any better storybook ending than one final return home to Cleveland to push this new core over the top? That might sound like it’s straight out of a Disney movie — would he get another Mickey Mouse ring, too? — but the CBA cares not for your silly narratives.
After trading Isaac Okoro for Lonzo Ball and re-signing Sam Merrill to a four-year, $38 million contract, the Cavs are projected to be roughly $16.1 million above the second apron. Unless they get below the second apron either as part of a James trade or a separate transaction, they wouldn’t be allowed to aggregate contracts in a trade. In other words, that’s the first step they’d have to take if they were seriously interested in pursuing LeBron.
Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley are each set to earn $46.4 million this coming season, so they’d be the easiest salary-matching chips to include in a LeBron trade. Otherwise, they’d have to offer up some combination of Darius Garland ($39.4 million), De’Andre Hunter ($23.3 million), Jarrett Allen ($20.0 million) and Max Strus ($15.9 million).
If the Lakers took back more salary than they sent out in a James trade, they’d be hard-capped at the $195.9 million first apron, which is likely a non-starter for them. Instead, they’d presumably want to loop in a third team to take on some additional salary from the Cavaliers. The Brooklyn Nets, who are entering free agency with a projected $37.7 million in cap space, would be the logical team to call first.
Garland and Allen are combining to make nearly $59.5 million this season, which is almost $7 million more than James. But the Cavs would still need to shed at least $9 million more to get under the second apron, and they’d realistically have to give themselves far more wiggle room than that so they could fill out the rest of their roster while staying under the second-apron hard cap. Would the Nets require additional compensation to take on Hunter’s deal?
A return to Cleveland might appeal to LeBron from a narrative perspective, but the second apron would complicate those negotiations.
Los Angeles Lakers v New York Knicks Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
New York Knicks
The New York Knicks have been lusting after LeBron for the better part of the past two decades. Thanks to Pablo Torre of Meadowlark Media, we finally got a glimpse of their famed 2010 recruiting video, which includes appearances from none other than Tony Soprano, Chris Rock and Spike Lee, among many other celebrities.
Is it time for the Knicks to run that back? They can only hope LeBron is a Timothee Chalamet fan.
Fresh off their first appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals in 25 years, the Knicks might be hungry to make a big splash this offseason. They’re currently projected to be $11.5 million under the second apron, so unlike the Cavs, they wouldn’t have to worry about aggregation restrictions in a LeBron deal. In fact, it’s fairly easy for them to come up with a salary-matching framework.
OG Anunoby is making $39.6 million this coming season, while Mitchell Robinson is making nearly $13 million. Those two combined are at $52.5 million, which is only about $100,000 less than LeBron. The Knicks are over the first apron, so they aren’t allowed to take back more salary than they send out in a trade, but they’d just have to find a taker for one of their minimum contracts (Tyler Kolek or Ariel Hukporti), which shouldn’t be a huge obstacle.
The Knicks could trot out a starting five of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, LeBron James and Karl-Anthony Towns, although their bench behind Miles McBride would be even thinner than it was last year. They might have to later trade one of Towns, Bridges or Hart to break them up into a few smaller contracts. Still, they’d cement themselves as one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference, particularly with the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers all likely out of the title hunt in 2025-26 due to their respective Achilles injuries.
For the Lakers, getting Anunoby and Robinson for what might only be one year of LeBron wouldn’t be such a bad way to start the Luka era.
After being excoriated for the past five months, there’s no way Nico Harrison would go right back to the well and make another blockbuster trade with the Lakers, is there? He might be willing to make an exception for LeBron.
According to Lakers beat reporter Jovan Buha, “there has been some buzz… in the general NBA ether over the last week or two with LeBron and Dallas.” He’d have a chance to play with two former teammates in Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis, along with No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. The lack of state income tax in Texas could be appealing to him as well. He and Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd also hold one another in high regard.
At a bare minimum, the Mavs would likely have to include Thompson, Daniel Gafford ($14.4 million) and PJ Washington ($14.2 million) in a trade for LeBron. That would only get them to $45.2 million in outgoing salary, though, so they’d also have to throw in one of Caleb Martin ($9.5 million), Naji Marshall ($9.0 million) or Max Christie ($7.7 million) to clear LeBron’s salary. From there, they’d have to leave themselves enough room under the second apron to fill out the rest of their roster.
The Lakers have already seen how Luka meshes with Thompson, Gafford and Washington, so they’d basically be combining their LeBron-less roster with half of the 2024-25 Mavericks. Washington is on an expiring deal, but Thompson and Gafford each have at least two years remaining on their contracts.
Los Angeles Clippers
Does LeBron really want to leave L.A., where his family seems happily settled and many of his off-court business ventures are? If not, he could try to force a trade to the Lakers’ crosstown rivals.
The Clippers just re-signed James Harden to a two-year, $81.5 million deal, and they have Kawhi Leonard under contract through 2026-27 as well. Like the Mavericks, the Clippers also don’t have many big salaries outside of those two — Norman Powell is their third-highest-paid player at $20.5 million — but they’re currently projected to be $22.4 million below the first apron and $34.3 million below the second apron. So, not only can they aggregate salaries in trades, but they could also take back more salary than they send out if they’re fine with being hard-capped at the first apron.
Ivica Zubac ($18.1 million) would likely be the sticking point in negotiations. Zubac would solve the Lakers’ search for a long-term center, but the Clippers would likely be reluctant to give him up. They’d presumably prefer to offer some combination of Powell, Bogdan Bogdanović ($16 million) and Derrick Jones Jr. ($10 million) as the main salary-matching chips.
The Clippers have already traded away their 2026 and 2028 first-round picks as well as 2027 and 2029 first-round pick swaps, but they could offer their 2030 and 2032 first-rounders along with a 2031 swap to sweeten the deal. If the Lakers hold firm on a Zubac-or-bust stance, the Clippers should also have access to the non-taxpayer MLE, which they could perhaps spend on finding a replacement center.
Orlando Magic
This might be my favorite out-of-left-field wild card.
The Orlando Magic already made one massive trade this summer by sending Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony and four first-round picks to the Memphis Grizzlies for Desmond Bane. At best, they’ll now have a three-year window with their core before it becomes no longer viable financially.
So, what if they went further all-in by taking a swing on James, too? They could include Franz Wagner ($38.7 million) as the main salary-matching chip and then offer either Jonathan Isaac ($15.0 million) or Wendell Carter Jr. ($10.9 million) to round out the deal.
The Lakers would presumably prefer Carter, who signed a three-year, $58.7 million extension with the Magic in October. The Magic would likely prefer to include Isaac, who signed a five-year, $84 million deal last summer in a renegotiate-and-extend. Only $8 million of his $14.5 million salary in 2026-27 is fully guaranteed, while his 2027-28 and 2028-29 salaries ($14.5 million and $15 million, respectively) are fully non-guaranteed.
The quartet of Jalen Suggs, Bane, LeBron and Paolo Banchero would instantly vault the Magic into the top tier of title contenders in the East. Meanwhile, the Lakers would have a new long-term co-star for Luka in Wagner, along with frontcourt depth in either Carter or Isaac.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats viaNBA.com,PBPStats,Cleaning the GlassorBasketball Reference. All salary information viaSalary Swishand salary-cap information viaRealGM.
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