Rich Paul may not have revealed LeBron James’ next team, but a whiteboard shown on the Game Over podcast, showed all the realistic landing spots.
The board featured several possible lineups built around LeBron. Those include the Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets. Other teams, including the New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs, were also mentioned.
Among them, Paul’s reasoning hinted that two teams stood out the most.
The Sixers were one of them. Paul stated out the biggest reasons why the Sixers could be an ideal destination:
“How could you not have the attention when you have Maxey, Edgecombe, Brown, and Embiid? He loves Maxey, so we don’t even have to talk about that. I think VJ helps Maxey understand how to play the game. He’s super talented, plays both ends of the floor, and competes hard every night. The benefit he’ll get from that would be ridiculous. Then, obviously, there’s Jaylen Brown.”
“Let me give you an X-factor about the Sixers, though. We forgot about something. Jameer Nelson is part of the front office. He’s a former player. Then there’s Mike Gansey. You know Mike Gansey, the Ohio guy. He played against us in high school. There’s a picture floating around that Mike Gansey’s brother posted of Gansey and LeBron when they were part of the Ohio High School All-Americans.”
The projected lineup on the whiteboard was Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, and Joel Embiid, along with LeBron. On paper, it checks out every box for a legend chasing another ring. Embiid remains one of the most dominant scorers when healthy, Brown and Maxey are All-NBA stars, while Edgecombe provides another option for a potent Sixers lineup. Here, LeBron would not have to carry the nightly scoring burden, and he can pick and choose his moments.
The connections with Mike Gransey could also turn the race in facor of the Sixers.
The other contender was the Cavaliers.
Rich Paul noted the pros and cons of a potential reunion with his old team. And the biggest advantage, as he mentioned, was Brandon Weems, who currently serves as the assistant general manager for the Cavaliers.
“Big X factor, Brandon Weems. Brandon Weems is basically LeBron’s brother.”
Relationships have always mattered to LeBron, and this connection could be the ultimate game-changer for the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers can also field a star-studded lineup, with Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen with LeBron.
Mitchell and Harden handle the offensive duties, while Mobley and Allen provide elite defense. And LeBron can easily plug into this lineup, bringing his leadership and IQ.
But there is one concern, as Rich Paul pointed out.
“The negative is, no knock to Harden, but no Garland. He loves Garland like he loves Maxey.”
These comments suggest that Cleveland and Philadelphia could be the frontrunners for LeBron’s next destination.
Rich Paul on the Positives and Negative of LeBron going back to Cleveland đź‘€
Positives: Big X factor, Brandon Weems. Brandon Weems is basically LeBron’s brother… That is a big feather in the cap
Negative: The negative is, no knock to Harden, but no Garland. He loves Garland… pic.twitter.com/RZo0UwApCk
— Heat Central (@TheHeatCentral) July 3, 2026
The other teams on the board offer different options for The King.
The Heat featured Giannis Antetokounmpo alongside Bam Adebayo, Davion Mitchell and Andrew Wiggins. The Timberwolves paired Anthony Edwards with LaMelo Ball, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert, while the Nuggets’ group featured Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Cam Johnson.
The Warriors also seem to hover over the conversation. The board had Stephen Curry and Draymond Green’s names on it, and there is strong speculation that has grown in recent weeks.
Other destinations include the defending champions Knicks, the Spurs, the Mavericks and the Celtics.
But Paul’s comments hint at two top spots. Wheter its because of roster strength or trusted relationships remains open to debate. But these two teams might have separated themselves from the rest, and they present the strongest cases to land LeBron in what would likely be the final chapter of his career.
