Where Will Lebron James Take The Throne?

If you were to follow the odds of the bookies you would see that the favorite destination to acquire King James is the LA Lakers, followed by his home city of Cleveland. LeBron James is from Northeast Ohio, which is where Cleveland happens to be located. While James has left Cleveland behind before, he came back and brought the city its first title in more than 52 years. Depending on how the postseason goes, he might decide his best chance at another ring is right at home. Personally I think the same, he’s been able to build a team many times before right in Ohio, so why take less money or move to another city to not achieve anything at all. We all know James is marketable enough to bring key all star players to Cleveland and build something new to combat the Golden State Warriors.

Rumors have circulated of a huge big 3 team up in Golden State, with an MVP core of James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. Is it possible? The NBA has never seen anything like this before and Steve Kerr would probably be able to hand the clipboard to any of the three on a given night and still watch the Warriors roll to the title. But if James was to take this leap, he would once again be deemed the biggest villain in basketball and almost be banished from Cleveland for life. But if James was to land here, the Warriors would have to get rid of some key players and would likely see the Cavaliers receive a package built around either Klay Thompson or Draymond Green, in addition to key reserve Andre Iguodala, in exchange for the four-time MVP. The Warriors can barely afford James outright, so it would mean gutting their own team to get him.

Could Chris Paul be a big enough persuasion to get the king to Houston and possible allow Dwayne Wade to come aboard on a minimum salary deal? CP3, James Harden and Lebron would form a strong trio in the NBA. Though a move to Houston would force James to confront the Warriors again this time in the conference finals, but having CP3 and Harden as teammates would give him more firepower against Golden State. If the Rockets were to make a trade for Lebron we would likely see a package centered around Ryan Anderson, Eric Gordon and future draft assets. This would allow the Rockets to bring LeBron on board without gutting their core to open up the cap space to sign him outright.

The Miami Heat has been another destination on the tips of everyone’s tongues. Sure he took his talents to South Beach once before and succeeded, so why not try it again right? Pat Riley and Dwyane Wade mended fences over their breakup, so it’s possible James and Riley could do the same. Plus, by staying in the East, James would avoid the Warriors until the Finals. A deal could be made which would see a trade with players like Hassan Whiteside, Dion Waiters and Tyler Johnson to teams with cap space to free up space to sign James, but that would be significantly more difficult to pull off. I couldn’t see James ending up here again only because I don’t think he would want to try repeat history, and be in a city that never felt like home to him last time.

The Philadelphia 76ers are another team that league sources say have a chance in landing Lebron James. A move to Philadelphia this summer would see him teaming up with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. James and Simmons already share an agent. But with a core as young as Philly there is no chance James would win a title, in fact I couldn’t even see them making the conference finals with so many inexperienced players. Sure the idea seems great but let’s be honest it’s not one we can see unfolding. Salary wise they would have a max cap spot, but Philadelphia have nothing that could persuade James to come, other then a core of youth that may become a championship contender in five years, when Lebron will be looking to end his career.

Future Laker LeBron James has landed in LA pic.twitter.com/ghhVdAq7F1

— Alex Harmer (@harmer805) June 30, 2018

The internet went crazy this morning when footage circulated of Lebron James arriving in Los Angeles, a city that’s being rumored as his new home for professional basketball. There were rumors that Paul George was looking at joining the Lakers, but they were squashed this morning as the OKC superstar committed in principle to resign with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Also Kawhai Leonard has shown interest in being traded to LA making this George, Leonard and James a new big 3. Already those plans have been slightly dampened, and the Lakers already have a good young core to build for the future, but like the 76ers there is no way James could win a title with this team and he would merely be joining for the money. The Cavs would have to trade Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. to the Lakers, and possibly offload Luol Deng’s remaining two years. Can we see the Lakers and Cavs trading players back and forth again? I highly doubt it, and I highly doubt Magic Johnson has enough pieces in place to lure the King here, other then maybe that James live in LA so why not just work here as well.

There’s no doubt Lebron James is the most sought after player in the league at the moment, but in my opinion and if I was a betting man there’s only one place I can see him ending up….