LeBron James’s agent has informed the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers that his client will opt out of the last year of his contract with the team and become an unrestricted free agent on the summer transfer market, Joe Vardon of cleveland.com reported on Friday.

Though the last year of contract was worth 35.6 million US dollars, it’s not too much a big deal to LeBron, just like his decision not to exercise the contract is no big news to the league. But as King James enters the market, the real competition begins: Which team will he choose and who will join him?

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst pointed out that LeBron’s move would make the Los Angeles Lakers very happy considering they have huge space on their payroll to offer a big contract and don’t want to give any young, talented player like Brandon Ingram or Kyle Kuzma in trade if they don’t have to. By contrast, the Houston Rockets would not like the news since the only way they could have got LeBron was through a trade, which could not happen if Cleveland no longer has LeBron on contract.

If LeBron stays, he can sign a five-year contract with the Cavaliers that will pay him around 205 million US dollars, both the longest years and the biggest number. If he goes to another team, he can at most get a four-year contract of about 152 million dollars.

Having carried Cleveland to the 2017-18 NBA Finals almost by himself, where they got swept 0-4 by the Golden State Warriors, LeBron is finding it difficult to remain hopeful with the Cavaliers - especially with the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers coming so close to challenging his dominance in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is already paying a terrifyingly large number for salaries and has no valuable chips for trade, meaning they have extremely limited room, if there is any at all, for improvement. LeBron, who already showed signs of being physically exhausted in the play-offs, had good reasons to leave.

LeBron’s decision will not only affect himself, at least not for the Lakers, who are also chasing Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.

In summer 2017, when George was still playing for the Indiana Pacers, he told his team that he wanted to leave, specifically for the Lakers. The Pacers had no choice but, luckily, found the Oklahoma City Thunder were willing to take the risk of having George for only a year in order to finish the deal. Though the Thunder had a very disappointing season, George did not seem too obsessed with joining the Lakers a year ago. The situation forced the Lakers to make themselves more attractive. And, what could make a team more attractive than having LeBron James?

The same scenario almost repeated itself with Kawhi Leonard who, in summer 2018, told the San Antonio Spurs that he wanted to depart for, again, the Lakers. The Spurs did not want to lose their best player for nothing and would demand a sky-high price for a trade. The Lakers has good chips including Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram but delivering such young talented players in a trade could be a big gamble. Kawhi and George are good, but not good enough to guarantee an appearance in the finals. If they want to increase their chances to win, the Lakers will need good insurance. And what could be better insurance than LeBron James, who has led his team to the NBA Finals for eight consecutive years?

The Lakers are not the only team trying to recruit LeBron. The Cavaliers never said they would give up. The 76ers reached out to him right after they were knocked out in the play-offs. And there were the Celtics and the Rockets, teams known for finishing stunning deals. LeBron becoming an unrestricted free agent was just the first domino that will start the craziness on the market this summer.