Broussard: LeBron hasn’t made decision yet due to “so many moving parts”

Paul George might stay in Oklahoma City,¹  Chris Paul is an unrestricted free agent and could leave Houston, and there have been a number of reports that state that the Spurs won’t trade Kawhi Leonard to any team out west, and it will take one heck of an offer to acquire him nonetheless.

LeBron James might be the best basketball player in the world, but those three players and each of their impending decisions will likely play a major role on where the King decides to play next season (and beyond).

It’s one of the reasons why James’ upcoming decision may still not be known, even to him, simply because there are so many things that have yet to be decided.

“I’m told that LeBron hasn’t made a decision yet because there are so many moving parts,” Chris Broussard said on Undisputed.

“From what I’m told, there is tension now between Houston and Chris Paul…”@Chris_Broussard breaks down NBA free agency pic.twitter.com/3wzpDUaNQJ

— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) June 22, 2018

Seventeen days removed from his team getting swept by the juggernaut Golden State Warriors, No. 23 has all but certainly been talking to other players across the NBA, including one of his best friends, Chris Paul. If the Rockets point guard decides not to re-up with Houston, the two best friends could decide to both sign max deals with the Lakers.

There’s even a chance that a team like Philadelphia could clear enough cap space in order to give James a max contract. With pieces such as Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, who is also represented by Klutch Sports Group, the Sixers wouldn’t have to add another big-name free agent in order for the King to head to Philly.

He could stay in Cleveland and recruit others to join him in the wine and gold, or he could bolt The Land for the second time in his career and decide to go elsewhere, with Los Angeles being the likely landing spot if he doesn’t decide to stay with the Cavs. No matter what’s being reported, no one outside James’ circle truly knows No. 23’s final decision. James may not even know, honestly.

Related: Thoughts on LeBron James and Free Agency and What’s important to LeBron James

His decision will have major ripple effects throughout the NBA, might wait until those three make a decision. Or, he could be the first of the four to make a decision on where they will spend next season (and beyond) and either have something lined up with at least one of the others, or hope that his next (or current) team makes a move to acquire one (or multiple) of them.

Looking ahead, James must make a decision on if he will accept his 2018-19 player option by June 29. If he accepts it, that doesn’t guarantee that he will stay with the Cavs. He could have a hand-shake deal with Koby Altman that Cleveland would then sign-and-trade him to another team. If he declines the option, he will be an unrestricted free agent.

1. He has a player option or can even sign an extension. [↩]