The biggest question this NBA offseason is without the doubt the next team LeBron James will play for. He could opt in his current contract and stay in Cleveland, but odds are on him leaving The Land. Let’s look at the odds and the possibility of LeBron going to the Lakers, Rockets, Sixers, Warriors (yes), and Heat.
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Official Odds on Which Team LeBron James Will Play for in the 2018-19 NBA Season
Favorites: Lakers / Rockets / Sixers
Lakers (-200)
The Lakers are the most rumored destination for LeBron James with odds of -200 to get the services of the four-time MVP. Meanwhile, the Rockets, Sixers, and the Cavs all have identical odds of +350.
The Lakers have not reached the playoffs since 2013. Heck, it was the last time they even finished a season with a winning record. Since then, the franchise has been marinating itself in mediocrity. They have had high picks in the draft over the past few seasons but none of them were able to contribute any semblance of success to the hobbling organization. Clearly, the Lakers needed a star. Not just a star, but a superstar, and who better than to fill in that role than LeBron himself, who is certainly going to command a super-sized contract in the free agent market, one that Los Angeles could give him. The Lakers currently are over the cap by $38.4 million but that includes the cap holds of the contracts of the likes of Brook Lopez, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Isaiah Thomas, and Channing Frye. Assuming the Lakers won’t re-sign them, they would have enough cap space to give LeBron a max deal. Waiving Luol Deng and stretching his contract could even let the Lakers get LeBron and Paul George at the same time.
Getting George could be crucial for the Lakers if they want LeBron in La La Land. LeBron is turning 34 this December and he might be done carrying a team all by himself. He didn’t get much help in Cleveland the past season, and he does not want to go through another one without a dependable supporting cast or at least a Batman to his Superman, so the Lakers will likely strengthen their case for the forward if they could sign another superstar to flank LeBron in the future.
Rockets (+350)
As for the Rockets, getting LeBron is a little bit trickier because they need to factor in their intent to keep Clint Capela and the situation with Chris Paul. Capela is a restricted free agent in the summer and Houston has expressed its willingness to match any offer the big man would get from other teams. As for Paul, the Rockets also want him back, but the point guard is not going to take a pay cut. Re-signing the two would leave the Rockets with a tight cap space. Trading Ryan Anderson would help the Rockets, though, plus they have a creative general manager in Daryl Morey, so don’t just sleep on Houston’s chances of luring LeBron.
Philadelphia (+350)
Philadelphia is also in the running for the LeBron sweepstakes. In Philly, LeBron will have talented sidekicks in the form of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, who have proven that they are the future of Sixers basketball. Imagine them having someone like LeBron guiding the team. As of this writing, the Sixers are +450 to win the NBA title next year. That’s the third-shortest odds, which clearly shows how the public strongly feels about LeBron’s chances of packing his bags for the City of Brotherly Love.
Dark Horse: Warriors (+1500)
LeBron going to the Bay Area would destroy Twitter (and the league) and leave it in an unrecognizable state. This is the type of development that will alienate NBA fans like we’ve never seen before. The idea of James joining a super team that is already called a super team despite having JaVale McGee and Nick Young on its roster is just unfathomable. Then again, who could have fathomed before 2016 that one day, Kevin Durant will move to the Bay Area? It would take an extreme financial gymnastics and a couple of trades for the Warriors to accommodate LeBron. That’s not to mention whether LeBron could stomach the tornado of hate that’ll come his way and the legion of fans that will stop being his fans should he do this kind of abominable decision. The Warriors have odds of +1,500 to add LeBron to their repulsively great roster. At present, the Warriors are +125 to three-peat in 2019.
Long Shot: Miami Heat (+3500)
Will LeBron come back to South Beach? LeBron has seemed to have patched things up with Heat president Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra is still there roaming the sidelines and calling shot for the team. However, the Heat don’t have the financial breathing space. Hassan Whiteside takes the biggest cake of the payroll with $25 million. Moving Whiteside and/or Tyler Johnson and Goran Dragic could free up the necessary cap space to sign LeBron, but that will leave the three-time NBA champion with a supporting cast consisted of the likes of Dion Waiters, Kelly Olynyk, and Bam Adebayo. The Heat have +3,500 odds to acquire LeBron.
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