{"id":778633,"date":"2026-07-03T23:24:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T23:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/778633\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T23:24:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T23:24:21","slug":"agent-lebron-james-eyeing-host-of-teams-including-miami-heat-cleveland-cavaliers-philadelphia-76ers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/778633\/","title":{"rendered":"Agent: LeBron James eyeing host of teams, including Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three days after LeBron James<\/a> informed the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> he will be continuing his career elsewhere, his agent, Rich Paul, made two things abundantly clear: His client has options, and the hype around his decision is only beginning.<\/p>\n

Paul, on an episode of his \u201cGame Over\u201d podcast with Max Kellerman released Friday, used a whiteboard and pointer to illustrate a bevy of teams that James could join and weighed the pluses and minuses of each situation.<\/p>\n

The purpose of the exercise, Paul told ESPN on Friday, was to help fans understand James\u2019 process and the many layers he has to consider with every team that expresses interest.<\/p>\n

On a previous appearance on ESPN\u2019s \u201cThe Pat McAfee Show,\u201d Paul said \u201c10 to 12 teams\u201d had already contacted him about James, and on the whiteboard, Paul seemingly referenced every one of them.<\/p>\n

Paul told ESPN on Friday that he has now spoken to 27 teams about James and that the factors the veteran has to think about are fluid — such as the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> trading for Jaylen Brown<\/a>, for instance.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day things change,\u201d Paul told ESPN. \u201cThis is the first time that LeBron James<\/a> is making a decision pressure-free. He\u2019s won already. He\u2019s made good on his promise — he won in L.A. This is strictly for his happiness. What does happiness entail? It\u2019s a number of things. It\u2019s a bucket of happiness. It\u2019s basketball, it\u2019s living, it\u2019s camaraderie, it\u2019s competition. It\u2019s everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Klutch Sports CEO included 10 teams on the board during the podcast: Philadelphia, the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a>, Denver Nuggets<\/a>, Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a>, Miami Heat<\/a>, New York Knicks<\/a>, Golden State Warriors<\/a>, Dallas Mavericks<\/a>, Boston Celtics<\/a> and San Antonio Spurs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The first team Paul discussed was the 76ers.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhiladelphia, everything changed,\u201d Paul said. \u201cHow could you not have [his] attention when you have [Tyrese] Maxey, [V.J.] Edgecombe, Brown and [Joel] Embiid?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe loves Maxey, so we don\u2019t even have to talk about that. I think V.J., he helps V.J. understand really how to play the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, Jaylen Brown<\/a>,\u201d he said. \u201cEmbiid is health and habits. The health and habits of Embiid are there.<\/p>\n

\u201c[James] enhances everything there. He unlocks everything there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maxey is a Klutch client and has worked out with James in the summer for the past several years. James endorsed Brown for MVP last year when he was leading the Celtics with Jayson Tatum<\/a> sidelined with his Achilles injury, while James and Embiid teamed up for a gold medal together at the 2024 Paris Olympics.<\/p>\n

Paul added that an \u201cX factor\u201d for Philadelphia is its front office featuring executive vice president of basketball operations Jameer Nelson — who was a contemporary of James, playing together on the All-Star team and against one another in the playoffs — and president of basketball operations Mike Gansey — who played against James in high school and was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a>\u2019 front office during James\u2019 second stint with the franchise. Paul also said he and James \u201clove\u201d the Sixers\u2019 leadership, including managing partner Josh Harris and former Warriors GM Bob Myers. While Paul played up Philadelphia\u2019s chances, he all but eliminated the Knicks as a destination.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult, because the last thing you want to do is mess up something like that,\u201d Paul said. \u201cThe Knicks have a good thing going. If the Knicks hadn\u2019t had won, this wouldn\u2019t even [be a question]. There would be no board. He\u2019d be going to the Knicks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul explained that the potential fallout if the Knicks didn\u2019t repeat with James on the roster would be too big of a risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeBron\u2019s always judged different,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s a very fragile thing, and he\u2019s been a part of championship teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cleveland, which Paul referred to as \u201cthe C-town,\u201d was also discussed in depth.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Donovan] Mitchell, [James] Harden, [Evan] Mobley, [Jarrett] Allen. Dan and Grant — which is the Gilberts. Plus Koby [Altman], he was there when LeBron won there,\u201d Paul said. \u201cBig, big, big X factor, let me talk to you about Brandon Weems,\u201d who is the Cavs\u2019 assistant GM under the president of basketball operations, Altman, and was a childhood friend and James\u2019 high school teammate.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrandon Weems is basically LeBron\u2019s brother,\u201d Paul said. \u201cNow, he worked his own way [up], nobody gave him anything. He\u2019s earned to be in the front office of the Cavs.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that is a big feather in the cap [for Cleveland], because of Brandon Weems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul added that the Cavs would have been even more appealing had the roster still featured fellow Klutch client Darius Garland<\/a>, who was traded to the LA Clippers for Harden last season. \u201cThis is no offense to Harden,\u201d Paul said. \u201cBecause he loves Garland like he loves Maxey.\u201d<\/p>\n

After outlining the characters in play in Denver, including three-time MVP Nikola Jokic<\/a>, fellow Klutch clients Aaron Gordon<\/a> and Peyton Watson<\/a> and the Kroenke family ownership, \u201cwhich we\u2019re close to,\u201d Paul was asked by Kellerman if the Nuggets were a realistic choice. \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be on the board [if it wasn\u2019t a legitimate option],\u201d Paul replied.<\/p>\n

For Miami, Paul rattled through the top players, including the newly acquired Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>, and mentioned team president Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra, who were with the franchise when James led the Heat to four straight Finals appearances and two titles from 2010 to \u201914.<\/p>\n

He cited the roster, led by Anthony Edwards<\/a>, as well as the front office and ownership group in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

For Dallas, Paul focused solely on the off-court opportunities the Mavs would provide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got oil, they got golf, you got Macau and the Sands Group and with Masai [Ujiri], you got the whole continent of Africa,\u201d Paul said of the new Dallas president and the ownership group that has casinos in Las Vegas and China. \u201cA lot comes with Dallas and Masai.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also briefly referenced Boston and San Antonio; sources told ESPN that the Spurs are not considered a potential team that James will join.<\/p>\n

And Paul, of course, discussed the Warriors, the first team to pop up as a contender in the James sweepstakes before he had even informed the Lakers he was leaving. Draymond Green<\/a> opted out of his contract for next season to restructure his deal to give the team greater flexibility to make a real run at landing the league\u2019s all-time leading scorer.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see Steph [Curry] and Dray,\u201d Paul said. \u201cDon\u2019t forget about Steph and Dray.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul told ESPN that James has been contacted by countless players on the teams discussed, just as Paul has been in touch with the team executives and owners.<\/p>\n

James\u2019 decision is not expected to come quickly, either, as all his options — and the variables attached to each team — are mulled over.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you\u2019re going through this process, I\u2019m saying to LeBron, \u2018You really have to think this through,\u2019\u201d Paul said on his podcast. \u201cEverything looks great in July. Everything looks great on paper. But you got to be very careful with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just to have the options as a 41-year-old veteran is a feat in itself, in Paul\u2019s opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to LeBron, \u2018These calls that I\u2019m getting a true testament to how you have respected this game,\u2019\u201d Paul said on his podcast. \u201c\u2018It\u2019s Year 24.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three days after LeBron James informed the Los Angeles Lakers he will be continuing his career elsewhere, his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":547946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,122281,122172,147129,459,144379,82],"class_list":["post-778633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cleveland-cavaliers-sports-basketball-team-team-statscom-5","tag-lebron-james-sports-basketball-player-player-statscom-214152","tag-miami-heat-sports-basketball-team-team-statscom-14","tag-nba","tag-philadelphia-76ers-sports-basketball-team-team-statscom-20","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}