Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James to Los Angeles Lakers "a long shot"

The possibility of LeBron James leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for Los Angeles Lakers are slim. Unless you factor LeBron James Jr. into the equation.

According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, the odds of Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James heading to the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency are described as “a long shot” by league sources.

"League sources believe it’s “still a long shot” James chooses the Lakers this summer, but that’s mostly because he’s determined to stay focused on winning a title with the Cavaliers this season."

The Lakers have long been regarded as a potential free agent destination for James because of their ability to sign two superstar free agents to maximum contracts in the offseason and James’ affinity for both the franchise and team president Magic Johnson.

Regarding the former, the superstar duo the team has been targeting are James and Paul George of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

George, who is averaging 22.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game while shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from three-point range, is one of the best forwards in the NBA and potentially the best two-way player at his position.

He’s an athletic player with great ball-handling skills, basketball IQ and a great feel for what to do on the court. That, and being a knockdown jump shooter, have allowed him to be a terrific playmaker; he’s able to create easy shots for himself and sees the court well enough to allow his ability to open up plays for others.

Pairing him and James, an even better playmaker, would be hard for any opposing team to stop. The Cleveland Cavaliers themselves tried to acquire George last season for those same reasons.

For a player whose priority is winning championships but has never won a championship without having at least one other stellar playmaker on the perimeter, George gives the Lakers hope. If they sign George, it’s very well possible James would sign with the Lakers, who have a great young core of players in Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram but don’t have players with championship experience or an All-Star resume.

George would be the Scottie Pippen to James’ Michael Jordan.

Circling back to the latter point, James was once asked what team he would play on if he could join any team from any era and James chose the 1985 Los Angeles Lakers.

Realize that James, who was born in 1984, would have been old enough to watch and understand the game when Magic returned to the court in the 1995-1996 season. Now,look at the flair with which he passes the ball and both the affinity for that team’s style of play.

His comparisons to Magic make sense as would being influenced by one of the most sensational passers the NBA has had to offer.

James has credited players like Julius “Dr. J” Erving and Michael Jordan for inspiring his play but when you want to consider his passing ability, the only players who were dropping dimes like that were Magic and John Stockton.

I’m sure James respects Stockton’s legacy but I’ve never heard nor seen James mention being influenced by his style of play.

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Those, however, are reasons for signing with the Lakers that aren’t as important as the product they could put on the floor.

Compared to a team like the Houston Rockets (who have two potential Hall of Famers and the NBA’s best record this season), the Lakers don’t present a better path to winning a NBA championship (although they do have a better chance for sustainable success due to their youth).

Teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers will have talented ball clubs and personnel that James is familiar with. Ben Simmons, the soon-to-be superstar point guard for the Sixers, is James’ protegé. James has spent 11 out of his 15 NBA seasons with the Cavaliers franchise and they’re a team that has the chance to get him a stellar perimeter playmaker in the 2018 NBA Draft.

The San Antonio Spurs, the best run organization in the league, are another talented team and could make some real noise in the pursuit of James this summer with a healthy Kawhi Leonard, another small forward in the running for the best two-way player at his position.

Looking at what could be James’ Big Board of NBA teams, it’s easy to see why the Lakers would be a long shot but it’s also easy to see why James would go to Los Angeles.

Not only is he a growing force in Hollywood who owns properties in the Los Angeles area, he certainly wouldn’t be against sending his son to one of the top prep schools in the country. Teams like Salesian College Prepatory (ranked 4th nationally), Bishop Montgomery (ranked 7th nationally), Bellarmine College Prep (ranked 21st nationally) or Mater Dei (ranked 24th nationally).

All four of those schools are located in California. No high school basketball team in Ohio is ranked in the top 25. It’s not about exposure for James’ son, who is after all the son of the best basketball player in the world. It’s about the experience of playing with a top program and what that program can teach him.

If anyone knows the importance of going to a top program, it’s James. Though he never went to college and graduated from St. Mary – St. Vincent High School, it’s often said that the four years James spent with the Miami Heat were what transformed him into a true champion. It was being around a team that had won it all before and imparted invaluable lessons in a championship culture that he saw fit to replicate in the Land when he returned in 2014.

For the record, there are five teams in the Top 25 of high school rankings in the state of Texas (including the top-ranked team nationally) and one in Philadelphia.

A father as invested in his children as James will make their future part of his decision so don’t be surprised if one of the reasons James leaves the Land and heads to California (or Texas) is LeBron James Jr.

Report: LeBron to Lakers “still a long shot”

By Quenton S. Albertie | Mar 11, 2018

The possibility of LeBron James leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for Los Angeles Lakers are slim. Unless you factor LeBron James Jr. into the equation.

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