Lakers top list of four possible destinations for LeBron James

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With the Golden State Warriors' sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in this year's NBA Finals, the season came to an exciting, but uneventful end. However, it also marks the beginning of a grand new drama – free agency. The major act in this drama is the question of where LeBron James will end up.

We look at the four possible destinations for "King James":

Los Angeles Lakers

Lonzo Ball #2 and LeBron James #23 /VG Photo

Many consider the Lakers as the most probable choice for LeBron – and for good reasons.

First, Los Angeles is attractive for its business opportunities. James already owns a 23-million-US-dollar luxury house in the city and he has always harbored ambitions to be a giant outside of basketball, similar to Lakers' legend Magic Johnson, who is currently the Lakers' president of operations. No place is better than LA for James' business goals.

The Lakers also has enough space for two maximum salaries on their payroll. The team would feel no pressure in having James and one or even two All-Star level teammates like Paul George and Chris Paul on the same payroll.

Marc Stein from the New York Times wrote that he would never underestimate James' ability to bring Paul along with him, considering how close the two men have been – if a team could afford to have two super stars on its roster.

The Lakers are a young, talented team, as well. They have Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram who have the potential to become All-Star players. Though they failed to enter the playoffs last season, the Lakers won 12 out of the 25 games after All-Star Weekend, with one of the league's youngest franchises.

Houston Rockets

James Harden #13, LeBron James #23 and Chris Paul #3 /VCG Photo

The Rockets are the best choice, if we eliminate all other factors outside of basketball. The team was ranked No.1 in the league during the regular season with 65 wins and pushed the Warriors to the edge of the cliff in the Western Conference Finals. If Chris Paul had stayed healthy, the outcome might have been different.

The Rockets also have everything James wants from a team. They have collected enough three-point shooters and decent defensive players. Meanwhile, with Harden and Paul as his teammates, James will never have to do everything on his own like he did in this year's Finals. The addition of James to the Rockets – joining Harden and Paul – would put massive pressure on any defense.

However, Houston has to solve two things before they could bring in James. One is the payroll space. Unlike the Lakers, the Rockets could not offer a maximum salary contract to James, without losing one or two rotation players. They'd also have to manage this against Ryan Anderson's 20-million-dollar contract. It won't be easy considering the team's general manager Daryl Morey failed to do so in 2017 after trying to do so for a whole summer.

The other problem is about building chemistry between three superstar players. James, Harden and Paul are all players who can make big contributions with the ball in their hands. When the Rockets had two of them, their time in the court could be separated. But the point of having a "Big 3" is to maintain two superstars on the court all the time. If James chooses Houston, head coach Mike D'Antoni would have to rack his brains for a way to make all three happy.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The only reason LeBron may choose to stay in Cleveland is that this is his home. /VCG Photo

Leaving Cleveland might seem a natural choice for James who said after the Finals that his goal was to obtain as many championships as possible. But King James is also a man who pays a lot of attention to family which is one of the few reasons that he may choose to stay.

Bao Renjun from Tencent Sports talked to three of the Cavaliers' accompanying, who all believed that James will decide to stay for his children. He wanted his first-born son Bronny to enter St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, like he did. It has one of the best basketball teams in Ohio State and is also home to James' childhood head coach. The New York Times' Marc Stein agreed that family might be the only reason to convince James to stay.

Meanwhile, leaving means new teammates and new environment, both of which are something that takes time to adapt to and may lead to problems. If James stays in Cleveland, at least he can still play with a team he's familiar with.

But that's not necessarily a good thing, as he knew this team well enough to realize that they stood no chance in the NBA Finals. The Cavs may not be able to improve either, considering they are paying a crazy number of salaries for a pile of toxic contracts. Being able to attract star agents or big trades seems highly improbable. The team's general manager Koby Altman will need to pray for a miracle this summer.

Philadelphia 76ers

Ben Simmons #25 and LeBron James #23 /VCG Photo

Joel Embiid, one of the twin stars of the 76ers started to recruit James right after Cleveland was swept by Golden State by tweeting: "Trust The Process!!!! Find a new slant @KingJames."

Philadelphia already has a terrifying team filled with Embiid, Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz. The team won 52 games last season and ranked No.3 in the Eastern Conference, without Fultz who was selected with the first pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, not to mention that they have multiple quality role players like Dario Saric and Robert Covington.

More importantly, the 76ers has the best talent in the league and, unlike the Lakers, they have already turned these talented players into strong performances on the court. All they need is a superstar with enough experience. Furthermore, if James chooses Philadelphia, he can stay in the Eastern Conference instead of facing the dangerous, wild Western Conference and maintain his dominance for years.

The 76ers also have the second best payroll in the league only next to the Lakers, meaning they can offer the maximum salary contract to James and bring in the role players he needs.

James has switched teams twice in his career, with both times causing shock waves throughout the league. No matter where he heads for this time, it will be a game-changer for NBA.