Warriors among teams with best odds to land LeBron originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
If LeBron James were to play elsewhere next season, the Warriors almost certainly will be one of the teams rumored to have interest.
Whether it's realistic or not remains to be seen.
Immediately after the Los Angeles Lakers were swept by the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference finals on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena, TNT and Bleacher Report's Chris Haynes reported, citing league sources, that James is "unsure" if he will play next season and retirement is under consideration.
If James were to return for the 2023-23 NBA season, will he continue playing for the Lakers or take his talents elsewhere? Our partners at PointsBet released odds for James' next team, with the Warriors having the fourth-best odds to land the 19-time All-Star at +1500.
This means that a $100 bet on James joining the Warriors (+1500) would net you $1,500.
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James, who is under contract with the Lakers through next season and has a player option for the 2024-25 season, would have to request a trade out of Los Angeles in order to join another team. The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor speculated in his latest column that interest between James and Golden State could end up being real.
"Interest between LeBron and the Warriors could be mutual," O'Connor wrote. "LeBron is BFFs with Draymond and he’s already said that Steph Curry is the current player he’d most like to play with. Last year on The Shop, LeBron’s business partner, Maverick Carter, pushed him to share the team he’d most want to play for other than the Lakers and LeBron said it’d be the Warriors (or the Heat)."
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The Warriors trading for James is highly unlikely and would be very complicated for everyone involved. However, until James makes a decision on if, or where, he wants to play next season, the rumors should only intensify.
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