Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and the New York Knicks seemed destined for a collision course in 2024. The 20-time All-Star made several subtle hints at possibly being open to a move to the Big Apple.
James adorned a Knicks towel after L.A. beat New York 113-105 on Feb. 3. The future Hall-of-Famer also affirmed that he strongly considered joining the Knicks during his storied 2010 free agency.
Is LeBron James to the Knicks gaining steam again?
Rumors died down as he remained with the Lakers at the Feb. 8 trade deadline. Now, a new free agency prediction pairs James with the franchise, and for a justifiable reason at that.
Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus named his top 25 free agents for the summer of 2024, with James predictably atop the list. Pincus posed this sign-and-trade scenario:
“To the best of his ability, James will probably direct where his son lands. Perhaps that’s with the Lakers, though some around the league speculate it’ll be with the New York Knicks. If so, James would probably opt in and orchestrate a trade from the Lakers (perhaps with Julius Randle, other salaries and picks to Los Angeles),” Pincus said.
The deal would allow James and his son Bronny to share the court in the league’s biggest market.
However, the 39-year-old can pick up his $51.4 million player option for the 2024-25 NBA season or decline and make a push for New York. Correspondingly, Randle is under contract with the Knicks until 2025-26, where he’ll make $28.2 million this year, $30.3 million the next, and $32.4 million in the final year of his deal.
Will the Lakers be moved by an offer centered around Knicks All-Star Julius Randle?
The Knicks could make a deal work where they offer the Lakers a portion of their weighty draft capital over the next three seasons and make the dollars and cents work. Whether the Lakers will be on board to bring another power forward to town next to All-Star Anthony Davis is a major question mark, though they’d get an All-NBA level talent in return for James.
The younger James has been left off of recent 2024 mock Draft boards. Discouragingly, he may not be taken in the second round as originally projected. Even still, the USC product is likely to be picked up off the scrap heap in the undrafted market. Wherever he lands could strongly influence the elder James’ movements this summer. The Akron, OH native will be pulling strings for himself and his son when the time comes.