Three teams expected to pursue LeBron James next summer

LeBron James is, by all indications, entering his final season with the Los Angeles Lakers. But he should still have some good outside options if he still wants to continue his NBA career beyond that.

The four-time NBA MVP James is expected to be pursued by three teams if he becomes available as a free agent next summer. Those three teams are the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Dallas Mavericks and the Golden State Warriors, Ashish Mathur of DallasHoopsJournal.com reports this week.

All three of those teams would foreseeably be fitting landing spots for James, who will be 41 years old next offseason. Obviously first and foremost are the Cavaliers, whom James began his NBA career back in 2003 and then returned for a second stint in the mid-2010s that culminated in the 2016 NBA championship. James has also made headlines this summer with some teasing social media posts related to the Cavs.

As for the other two teams, James’ connection is strong with each of them as well. The Mavericks have several of James’ former NBA teammates on their roster (including Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, D’Angelo Russell, and Max Christie) as well as a truckload of ex-Lakers coaches on their staff. Meanwhile, the Warriors are led by some well-known friends of James (namely, Draymond Green and Steph Curry) and are coached by Steve Kerr (who has been James’ coach on Team USA Basketball). Golden State also attempted to trade for James last season but got turned down in their overtures.

When it comes to James’ current situation, he is still under contract with the Lakers for $52.6 million this coming season. But the Lakers, now looking to fully build around Luka Doncic, did not offer James a contract extension beyond that, resulting in James reportedly getting his feelings hurt.

It is unclear if James (who has dropped some interesting nuggets about possible retirement in recent weeks) will indeed play into the 2026-27 season, which would mark his 24th in the league. But it looks like he will have a strong set of suitors, even beyond the Lakers, if he ultimately decides to do so.