Next for LeBron James? The shorter-than-you-think list of potential destinations

Or will he return to Los Angeles?

LeBron James may be on the move, and how often have we been able to say that? In 2010, when he made The Decision to take his talents to South Beach. In 2014, when we had an inkling he would leave the Miami Heat for a return to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

And in 2018, when all signs pointed to him joining the Los Angeles Lakers. That’s right: LeBron’s future has not been this uncertain since 2010, so you could have your driver’s license right now and not remember when he joined the Heatles. It’s been a minute.

An obligatory reminder: James will turn 42 years old in December. He is no longer the game’s best player, though he is still somehow one of its (let’s say …) 25 best, and this season he accepted a role, which made him the NBA’s best third option for a stretch. He was not that in the playoffs, when the absences of Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves demanded he reassume the throne as a primary playmaker on offense, and that was too much for James to handle, at least in a Western Conference semifinal.