According to a wide-ranging report from ESPN published Tuesday from their Los Angeles Lakers beat writer Dave McMenamin and national NBA reporter Tim Bontemps, multiple league sources floated Denver as one of the most intriguing landing spots for LeBron James this offseason, should the 41-year-old legend decide to lace them up for a 24th NBA season.
“Who is the only guy on [James’] level from a basketball IQ standpoint in the league?” a Western Conference executive told ESPN. “Go there and team up with that guy.”
The answer, of course, is Nikola Jokic. And the basketball case essentially makes itself. ESPN called a potential James-in-Denver scenario “arguably the best basketball option on the board — even better than two other suitors named in Cleveland and New York,” adding that it would “likely present James with the strongest chance of ending his career with a fifth championship.” Surround two of the greatest basketball minds in NBA history with Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon, and the Nuggets could have enough toto take down Oklahoma City and duel with San Antonio.
Denver pursued James in 2018 when he left Cleveland, with Nuggets president Josh Kroenke — a personal friend of James’, ESPN claims — leading the charge. Now in Denver too is Jared Dudley, a former Lakers teammate and longtime James friend. He’s on the Nuggets coaching staff, and the two remain close enough that Dudley spent time with James in the tunnels before a recent Lakers game in Denver.
On the financial side, ESPN outlined a potential sign-and-trade framework involving either restricted free agent Peyton Watson — a fellow Klutch Sports client who shares an agent with James — or Cameron Johnson, who is owed $23 million. Either piece would give the Lakers another player that is perhaps a better fit than James around Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, and Denver would get a little run with one of the greatest players ever.
The competition is stiff, though. The Lakers can offer James the most money using his Bird rights and remain a genuine option, with his family rooted in Los Angeles, son Bronny under contract there next season, and son Bryce playing at nearby Arizona. Cleveland is quietly considered a strong fit by multiple league insiders, who told ESPN the Cavaliers would move heaven and earth for a third James stint. Golden State, where James has a well-documented “bromance” with Stephen Curry from the Paris Olympics, is in the mix too, as are the New York Knicks.
And none of it matters if James decides to hang them up entirely. He’s dealt with sciatica this season, has dropped retirement hints — then walked them back — and remains genuinely noncommittal about his future.
“When I know, you guys will know,” he said at All-Star Weekend. “I don’t know. I have no idea. I just want to live, that’s all.”
Still, his body is holding up in ways that defy logic for a man his age, and his spirit appears fully renewed during the Lakers’ recent hot streak. ESPN suggests it’s hard to imagine James believing he can’t continue playing. The question is simply whether he’ll want to.
If the answer is yes — and history suggests it will be — Denver just became one of the most legitimate destinations in the NBA. Maybe the two playoff defeats to Denver got under James’ skin or maybe it’s the current situation. The Nuggets have the relationships, some trade assets and, most importantly, the player no other team can offer. His name is Nikola Jokic, and he just might be the reason the King comes to Colorado, unlike all those years ago when the Nuggets lost the lottery for LeBron to his hometown Cleveland.
