The upcoming free agency plight of Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James is undoubtedly the biggest storyline of the summer of 2018. The Los Angeles Lakers have positioned themselves as a potential landing spot, clearing out two max salary slots.
The question is whether LeBron would choose to leave his hometown team for the second time. Cleveland certainly made some moves at the deadline in order to try and convince him to remain there.
If James does leave however, the Lakers and Houston Rockets are among the teams that will be fighting to land his services. A number of ESPN staff members recently asked 48 NBA players their thoughts on what LeBron might do this summer, and the Lakers came up plenty of times.
When asked where LeBron should sign this summer, the Lakers came in second with eight percent of the vote. The Cavaliers, with 66 percent were first, while the Miami Heat also got eight percent of the vote.
As far as where players believe LeBron will actually sign this summer, the Lakers once again came in second to the Cavaliers, but with a larger portion of the vote at 22 percent. Cleveland garnered 59 percent of the vote in this category, while the Heat were third with just seven percent.
Despite many believing LeBron will and should sign with the Lakers, there are apparently just as many who think the exact opposite. When it came to which team LeBron absolutely shouldn’t sign with this summer, the Lakers garnered 16 percent of the vote, tied for third with the Houston Rockets. The Philadelphia 76ers (31 percent) and the Golden State Warriors (28 percent) were the top vote-getters.
Overall it is an interesting look at where the rest of the league sees LeBron heading. Most believe he should and will remain with the Cavaliers, but there is clearly a portion of players that believe he will leave as a free agent.
The Lakers have given themselves a shot at landing LeBron this summer. Some may believe they actually hurt their own chances with the deadline-day trade, but getting a seat at the table is most important and with the right pitch they could very well prove some people right, and some wrong.
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