The Los Angeles Lakers will be faced with a huge decision in the summer of 2026, as franchise icon LeBron James enters free agency for the first time since he joined the team in the summer of 2018. If James intends to stay with a team, he often signs a contract extension in advance, but James has tactically gotten to this point with a no-trade clause in his contract.
James is expected by many to take his talents out of Los Angeles for what might be a retirement season in the 2026-27 season. The Lakers already have their star of the future with Luka Doncic and will be focused on prioritizing him instead of James, a process that has already begun this season.
The two biggest contenders for James’ potential farewell season are the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors, with both teams having a lot of history with James.
Unfortunately, it seems James will have to leave a lot of money on the table if he makes a switch to either team as a free agent, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, who thinks the lack of cap space on the open market means LeBron might have to accept a mid-level exception or a veteran minimum contract.
“I have specifically spoken to people on both sides of the negotiation of ‘what do you think his value is in the 2026-27 NBA season?’ Knowing there’s no team out there with cap space that is going to say ‘Here’s $35 million to play for us.’”
“Yeah, the Warriors or the Cavs would take him for the Mid-Level Exception or the minimum. Of course. There’s no team that’s going to clear $35-$40M for him and say come to us. So, who are the Lakers bidding against? I talk to both sides, and I don’t hear an answer.”
LeBron is currently making $52,627,153 with the Lakers. With the Warriors and Cavaliers projected to be luxury taxpayers next season unless they open up salary space, they’ll only have the $6.5 million taxpayer mid-level exception, which is considerably lower than the non-tax mid-level exception of around $14 million.
LeBron was drafted by the Cavaliers in 2003 and won them their only NBA Championship. Ohio is also his home state, so it makes sense for James to go home and finish the story. He will have a statue outside the Cavaliers’ home arena one day anyway, so it might be sweet for James to come back and help the current version of the contending Cavaliers get over the hump with a potential Championship to end his historic career.
The Warriors are arguably the greatest opponents of James’ career, beating him in three NBA Finals. LeBron has been open about his desire to be teammates with Stephen Curry. We saw a small glimpse of this when they were teammates with Team USA at the 2024 Olympics, but for it to become a reality in the NBA, he would need to join Curry. It might not provide a championship chance like the Cavaliers do, but it would be a feel-good way for him to end his career alongside his greatest on-court rival turned good friend.
James averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists in the 2025-26 NBA regular season, so any team signing a player this productive to a contract under $30 million would be a steal deal anyway.
We’re still months away from that, with James having to lead the Lakers through the Playoffs for what might be the last time. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are expected to miss their first-round series against the Houston Rockets, so we might see vintage LeBron lead the Lakers single-handedly despite being 41 years old.
