LeBron James may have narrowed down his top three free agent destinations just one week on the open market.
According to a report from ESPN’s Shams Charania, the race for James seems to be led by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers.
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“The teams that continue to come up are Cleveland, Miami and Philadelphia,” Charania reports. “When the Sixers got Jaylen Brown, I did some research and [James] is taking their pitch very seriously. When I talk to teams now, I have a hierarchy of Cleveland, Miami, Philadelphia and then some teams on the periphery.”
The Sixers acquisition of Brown put the entire league on notice making it a true title front runner which has also captured the attention of James.
But Philadelphia wasn’t the only destination to make major offseason moves. Miami kicked things off the week prior when it acquired star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks.
James’ history in Miami is strong as he won his first two championships with the franchise still led by Pat Riley and head coach Erik Spoelstra.
However, when it comes to history with James non are as strong as his hometown team in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers just appeared in the Eastern Conference Finals where it fell to the New York Knicks and have extended star Donovan Mitchell while also eyeing to resign James Harden in free agency to pair alongside Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
In terms of roster depth, Cleveland and Philadelphia have the strongest case to provide the support for James who is entering his 24th NBA season. But another decision is yet to be made for where he could closing out his time in the NBA.
Patrick Dowd is a contributor for Ball Exclusives. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
