Getty
LeBron James is in the final year of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, with rumors on his uncertain future and potential retirement.
The future of LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers remains the most pertinent question in the NBA heading into 2026. For one of the only times in his career, the league’s all-time leading scorer will be a free agent this summer, and could very well leave the Lakers for a new team.
According to James, no decision on his future has been made, but still, that hasn’t stopped the rumors and reports about his next plans. The options on the table are staying with the Lakers, joining a new team as a free agent, or retiring and ending his historic NBA career.
However, league insider Sam Quinn of CBS Sports dropped a bold prediction on James’ next move. He doesn’t believe the 41-year-old will close out his career without a big retirement tour, and thinks instead, James will join his former team in the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“For LeBron James, all roads lead back to Cleveland,” Quinn wrote on his belief of James’ next move amid all the uncertainty. “If he took the minimum in Cleveland, it’s a much easier spin than a pay cut with the Lakers. He’s not being forced to sacrifice to accommodate his team’s newfound direction. He’s giving his hometown team a discount to try to save them after a mess of a season.”
James is in the last season of a two-year, $104 million extension he signed with the Lakers in 2024, but after picking up his player option instead of inking another deal, he is set to hit the free agent market this summer.
LeBron James’ Lakers Tenure Appears To Be Almost Done
The fact that James picked up his player option signals that his relationship with the Lakers is almost done. As Quinn noted, if Los Angeles wanted to keep him around, they could have offered him a new contract, but that wasn’t the case.
They now have Luka Doncic, and with both he and James accounting for nearly two-thirds of their salary cap, resigning the oldest player in the league to another big deal clearly isn’t what president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka wanted, despite him saying he hoped James retired with the Lakers.
Additionally, Los Angeles seems keen on keeping Austin Reaves, who is set to earn a near-max contract for himself this summer, as he will join James in free agency. But with Reaves and Doncic both at similar ages, bringing back the 41-year-old who clearly isn’t the same player as in years past doesn’t look to be in the cards.
Therefore, Quinn predicts James will sign a minimum deal with the Cavaliers, the franchise he’s spent more time with in his career than any other. There were rumors about a reunion last year, but with their salary cap restrictions, bringing him in as a free agent next summer is likely their best option.
He has a history with the team and city, and as seen with their title hopes last season and to begin this one, while it might not be the sight his fanbase would want to see, James coming off the bench for a Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley-led team could be deadly, even at his age.
LeBron James Retirement Questions
Quinn also addressed James’s retirement after this season, once his Lakers contract ends. While that is certainly still on the table, the insider doesn’t think one of the most prolific players in NBA history will go out quietly.
“Does LeBron James seem like the sort of player who would go out quietly following an early playoff exit?” he asked. “Of course not. He’d want a retirement tour. He’d want a year of genuflection.”
In a similar article on ESPN written by Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst, retirement is a possibility, but one that is still less likely than rejoining the Lakers or signing with a new team, whether it be the Cavaliers or another organization.
“LeBron is still averaging 20 points and shooting 50%. He can help a team win,” an unnamed head coach told the ESPN insiders. “You just have to find the right situation.”
However, going back to his future in Los Angeles, the two believe his obvious signs of aging, along with his contract, are a problem for the Lakers’ future, hinting that this could be the last 50 games he plays in the Purple and Gold.
“It’s no one’s fault, but there is an inherent problem for the Lakers,” they wrote. “As this season has shown, playing (LeBron and Luka) together does not make the Lakers a championship contender in their current form…it’s not a sustainable way forward.”
If James really wanted to stay with the Lakers, he likely could have come to terms on a smaller deal for the next season or two, but in the months after the Doncic trade, that never appeared to be the case.
However it ends, James will want to do it on his terms, but for now, how it will play out remains unknown.
Eli Gregorski is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy Sports. He has years of sports writing experience covering the NBA, NFL, college football and basketball, international soccer, and Formula One. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was the assistant sports editor for the award-winning CU Independent student publication. More about Eli Gregorski
More Heavy on Lakers
Loading more stories