It’s no secret that most of the NBA is waiting on LeBron James.
Even with James’ agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, saying James won’t be rushed into making a decision on which team he’ll play for next, and encouraging teams to fill out their open roster spots if they want to, much of the league’s free agency business remains on hold while James mulls his options.
As sources described to the California Post, multiple teams — and players — throughout the league are in a holding pattern until James makes his decision.
It’s why James Harden remains an unrestricted free agent after declining his $42.3 million player option with the Cavaliers over three weeks ago with the expectation he’d re-sign with Cleveland on a new deal.
It’s why Draymond Green remains an unrestricted free agent after declining his $27.7 million player option with the Warriors, with the expectation he’d re-sign with Golden State on a new deal.
And it’s not just the teams, or players associated with the franchises, in the hunt for James, such as the Warriors, Heat, Cavaliers and 76ers, that are in a state of limbo.
It’s also James’ former team, the Lakers, who are in a wait-and-see stage for James’ decision before finalizing their roster.
The Lakers have made several moves since James revealed on June 29 that he wouldn’t be returning to the franchise for his unprecedented 24th NBA season: Austin Reaves (four years, $180 million), Walker Kessler (four years, $130 million), Quentin Grimes (four years, $60 million), Sandro Mamukelashvili (four years, $52 million), Collin Sexton (two years, $19 million), Kevon Looney (one year, $3.9 million), Ziaire Williams (one year, $2.8 million) and Matisse Thybulle (one year, $3.3 million).
They pushed forward with their roster reconstruction around superstar guard Luka Doncic once it was known James wasn’t returning to L.A.
But as they continue to finalize their roster ahead of the 2026-27 season (they need to shed at least one player from their roster to be compliant with the league’s rules), even they’re caught in the holding pattern because of James.
The Lakers continue to be interested in adding unrestricted free agent forward Jonathan Kuminga to their roster even after their other moves over the last couple of weeks, a source told the Post, but there hasn’t been progress on discussions recently.
The last offer the Lakers made to Kuminga came with an average annual salary around $10 million – a salary that won’t get a deal done now.
The main avenue for the Lakers to add Kuminga would be via a sign-and-trade with the Hawks, who are unlikely to bring the 23-year-old forward back to the team, sources told the Post.
The Cavaliers also have strong interest in Kuminga, a source said, and have been the team most linked to him outside of the Lakers over the last few weeks.
But the Cavaliers, whose head coach Kenny Atkinson coached Kuminga while Atkinson was an assistant coach with the Warriors from 2021-24, have held off on making any significant roster moves while James mulls his decision.
The Lakers appear to be using James’ uncertainty as leverage with Kuminga.
And that’s just one situation the Lakers are caught in the holding pattern.
The Lakers, who have 16 players signed or agreed to standard NBA deals, will need to trade or waive at least one player before Opening Night in October to trim their roster to the maximum 15 signed players allowed during the regular season.
But the options for trimming their roster won’t be fully revealed until after James makes his decision.
Will the team James joins want to trade for Bronny James?
It isn’t a guarantee that the younger James will follow his dad to his next team. Bronny is well-liked within the Lakers organization and he’s a player they’ve developed since drafting him with the No. 55 pick in the 2024 draft. But if LeBron’s next team is willing to send the Lakers a real asset for Bronny, that changes the calculus.
Dalton Knecht, Jaden Hardy and Jarred Vandebilt are other players to eye when it comes to the Lakers’ roster crunch.
In addition to Kuminga and having to reduce their roster to 15 players, the Lakers are still evaluating their big man options even after adding Kessler and Looney.
The Lakers no longer revolve around James after his eight seasons with the franchise.
But at least for now, like a lot of the NBA, they’re waiting to see what his next move will be before making any other potentially significant moves.
