LeBron James will return to the NBA for a 24th season, but it's still unclear which team will strike a deal with him in free agency.
The Los Angeles Lakers were informed on Tuesday that James was moving on for next season. Even though his camp has received interest from a handful of suitors, it sounds like there's a two-team race for his services.
According to longtime NBA reporter Nick Friedell, the sweepstakes for James are down to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors.
"It’s about a 50/50 right now," Friedell said. "It’s Golden State and Cleveland. I just don’t see another team that makes that much sense."
Friedell believes the Warriors offer James the best opportunity to find "happiness" on the hardwood.
"LeBron is looking for basketball happiness at the end," Friedell continued, via the New York Post. "There’s no better place to do that than here, flatly. He’s got a chemistry with Steph. He knows Draymond for all these years. He knows what Steve Kerr’s all about. They lived it and won a gold medal together in Paris at the Olympics. The Warriors, on top of all that, and I think this has gotten lost in the shuffle. They let their players be who they are. Look at Jimmy Butler."
© David Gonzales-Imagn Images.
Would LeBron to the Warriors actually make sense?
Channing Frye, who was teammates with LeBron in Cleveland for a few seasons, told Colin Cowherd that he doesn't want to see the all-time great close out his career in a Warriors uniform.
“Please don’t do that,” Frye said on Cowherd’s FS1 show. “That’s just gross. It won’t look right. [Michael] Jordan in a Wizards uniform didn’t look right. LeBron on the Lakers – you got used to it. LeBron in Miami – that made sense. LeBron in a Warriors [jersey] – no. And this lineup it’s a men’s 40 and over league. What are we doing?”
Former NBA center Kendrick Perkins, on the other hand, thinks James wants the Cavs to make an aggressive move before committing to them.
“I really feel this in my soul, that LeBron James is waiting to see if the Cavs are really going to do something,” Perkins said. “But he’s not going to go home if the roster is put together the way it was this past year.”
Only time will tell if James chooses the Bay Area or his hometown team.
