LeBron James opted into the last year of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers for this upcoming season. Whether or not he’ll play again with them is somehow yet to be determined.
The Cleveland Cavaliers could be in the mix for James’s services if he were to play elsewhere next season. He has ties with the franchise, he would make them title favorites, and it would narratively make sense from a career-arc standpoint, which is something LeBron seems to care about.
The Cavs wouldn’t be the only team
interested in James if he were to be made available. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin said on the broadcast of the Lakers’ Summer League game on Saturday that Rich Paul told him four teams reached out to Paul about James since he opted into his contract.
REPORT: 4 teams have contacted Rich Paul with interest in trading for LeBron, per @mcten pic.twitter.com/0KMx0bZHOs
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) July 13, 2025
Whether or not the Cavs were one of those teams is anyone’s guess.
If you were to trust ScoopB, the teams that reached out were the Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, and the Cavs.
At the same time, Sam Amico wrote that he heard that the Cavs haven’t reached out to Paul about trading for James.
If I were to speculate on this, I’d say that the Cavs have reached out. Altman is known for being active in trying to make deals, or at least finding out more information, when he can. He reportedly reached out to the Phoenix Suns about a Kevin Durant trade, even though coming up with a deal was unlikely. The front office also has an extensive history of working with Paul and James’s camp. Not picking up the phone to see what was possible would be a dereliction of duty in my opinion, even if a trade isn’t the most likely outcome here.
We’ll see how this all plays out. James hasn’t been subtle about being unhappy with his situation in Los Angeles. Whether or not this ends up with him playing for the Cavs again at some point in his career remains to be seen.
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