{"id":742941,"date":"2026-07-04T15:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T15:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/742941\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T15:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T15:08:16","slug":"fireworks-anyone-rich-paul-doesnt-rule-out-lebron-james-joining-the-celtics-just-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/742941\/","title":{"rendered":"Fireworks, anyone?: Rich Paul doesn\u2019t rule out LeBron James joining the Celtics just yet"},"content":{"rendered":"

The past 48 hours have been difficult for Celtics Nation, and that\u2019s an understatement.<\/p>\n

But with Jaylen Brown<\/a> officially off to Philadelphia, attention has already shifted to the next major domino still left to fall as free agent LeBron James<\/a> weighs his options after departing the Lakers. James, currently considering what could be his final destination before retirement, hasn\u2019t closed the door on many potential suitors thus far.<\/p>\n

That includes the Celtics, according to James\u2019 agent Rich Paul.<\/p>\n

This offseason has seen stars such as Brown, Giannis Antetokounmpo, LaMelo Ball, and Ja Morant traded, each from their respective homegrown organizations in a shocking first few days. And there are still more to come, with Paul unveiling those in the running to sign James this offseason.<\/p>\n

Boston, off a first-round playoff exit, finally chose between the same two paths it had weighed for years: either keep Jayson Tatum alongside Brown or split them up. This time, they chose the latter, and what followed was an instinctual reaction from a passionate fanbase that hadn\u2019t considered the real possibility of the Jays being broken up until it finally kicked in.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s the reality of professional sports, and the Celtics \u2014 as special as they\u2019ve always been \u2014 are no exception.<\/p>\n

Brown is gone. It hasn\u2019t even been a week since the start of free agency, and the fourth of July fireworks haven\u2019t popped off throughout the city either. So the most unforeseen outcome for many fans is still very fresh. For Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, who will need to answer for his decision<\/a> in Monday\u2019s upcoming press conference with majority owner Bill Chisholm, there\u2019s still plenty of work to do.<\/p>\n

\"PARIS,<\/a><\/p>\n

PARIS, FRANCE – AUGUST 10: LeBron James #6 of Team USA high fives Jayson Tatum #10 of Team USA while Derrick White #8 of Team USA looks on during the Men\u2019s Gold Medal Game on August 10, 2024 at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris, France. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and\/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant\/NBAE via Getty Images) NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Paul, speaking with Max Kellerman on the Game Over podcast<\/a>, listed 10 teams James is said to be considering: the Warriors, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Spurs, Mavericks, Heat, Knicks, Cavaliers, Sixers, and Celtics.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrad and Tatum,\u201d Paul\u2019s whiteboard read<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, Tatum and James won a gold medal as teammates for Team USA. That same summer, the two shared the red carpet for the premiere of Netflix\u2019s Starting 5 docuseries, featuring both Tatum and James. Their relationship over the years has survived the longstanding rivalry between LeBron and the city of Boston, which dates back to his debut stint with the Cavaliers \u2014 back when Tatum was in elementary school.<\/p>\n

During Tatum\u2019s rookie season, he flushed an iconic postseason dunk<\/a> in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, introducing himself to the future Hall of Famer with four championships to his name. Since then, Tatum and James have embraced each other with routine friendly encounters during their regular-season run-ins as foes on the court.<\/p>\n

Boston, unlike Golden State and Cleveland, can only offer James the veteran minimum after using their mid-level exception to sign Mitchell Robinson to a three-year, $47.4 million contract. That means James would have to take a pay cut to join a Celtics team currently featuring Tatum, Robinson, Derrick White, and Paul George.<\/p>\n

Last season, James averaged 20.9 points on 51.5 percent shooting as a 41-year-old in his 23rd season. Most impressively, James did so while accepting a downgraded role as the third option behind Luka Don\u010di\u0107 and Austin Reaves in Los Angeles. So the willingness to take a backseat for the betterment of the team, while remaining effective, is a role James is capable of accepting.<\/p>\n

Whether James lands in Boston remains up to him. If he does, it would mark one of the NBA\u2019s most stunning uniform switches ever \u2014 surpassing Michael Jordan\u2019s final two seasons with the Wizards by a country mile. It would also coincide with what\u2019s already been an odd and uncomfortable offseason for Celtics fans, currently in store for a much, much different team come October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The past 48 hours have been difficult for Celtics Nation, and that\u2019s an understatement. But with Jaylen Brown…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":742942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[48053,355,99],"class_list":["post-742941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-celtics-news","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=742941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/742942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=742941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=742941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=742941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}