In the summer of 2024, LeBron James’ future is the focus of the entire NBA.

The 39-year-old star’s contract with the Los Angeles Lakers will expire this summer. In fact, LeBron James can still activate the automatic extension for another year with a salary of 51.4 million USD. If LeBron James does not use this right, he will become a free agent.

According to expert assessments, it is likely that LeBron James will not activate the extension clause. The 39-year-old star will want to negotiate with the Lakers about a longer-term contract and a larger salary to ensure his future. Of course, this move would also include the Los Angeles Lakers committing to selecting Bronny James in the 2024 NBA Draft.

But if the Los Angeles Lakers do not choose this direction, or Bronny James is chosen by another team, then LeBron James’ future will certainly no longer be at the home team Crypto.com Arena.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are the logical place to develop Bronny James’ skills

Over the years, LeBron James has never given up the idea of playing with his son Bronny for at least a year before retiring.

With Bronny James attending the 2024 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Lakers will definitely select this player to ensure they retain LeBron James. However, Oklahoma City Thunder could be an ideal destination if they join the race. LeBron James himself once admitted that he would “play anywhere” as long as he could be on the court with his son.

Oklahoma City Thunder currently owns 3 Picks in round 1 of the 2024 NBA Draft, opening up a huge opportunity for them to own Bronny James when needed. Although LeBron James’ eldest son is considered not capable enough to become a good player in the NBA and needs to stay in college for another year, some opinions believe that he can still develop. It’s good if you return to a suitable team.

Rich Paul, LeBron James’s agent, also shared similar thoughts: “I hope he (Bronny James) can join the team and have a suitable development path”. Oklahoma City Thunder is definitely an ideal destination, because their ability to develop young players has been proven through their success in recent years with Josh Giddey, Jalen Willams, Chet Holmgren or Jaylin Williams.

Even though we know that playing in Oklahoma City is not a market as famous and noticeable as the magnificent Los Angeles, this will be an ideal place to develop skills for Bronny James.

Oklahoma City Thunder can meet LeBron James’ salary

If LeBron James chooses not to renew his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, he will become a free agent in the summer of 2024. By still maintaining top form even at 39 years old, any team wants to own him. Owner LeBron James will have to offer a contract worth at least $50 million.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have about $35 million in empty salary funds in the 2024/25 season. This is still not enough for LeBron James’ wishes, but the Oklahoma City Thunder can be completely flexible by exchanging a few reserve players to create enough of $50 million in salary.

Besides, Oklahoma City Thunder can also risk using a few players in the squad to exchange with the Los Angeles Lakers in the form of “Sign-and-trade”. That is the opening move by letting the Lakers re-sign LeBron James and exchange this player to the Oklahoma City Thunder, while the Oklahoma State team will have to bring some players in the opposite direction to balance the salary budget.

With talented strategic planners working under CEO Sam Presti, it is reasonable that the Oklahoma City Thunder managed to create a salary budget to meet the ownership of LeBron James.

Oklahoma City Thunder and LeBron James can v

LeBron James often thinks that he does not have enough support from the shooters on the Los Angeles Lakers squad. This will not happen at the Oklahoma City Thunder, when this team possesses stable 3-point shooters with an average efficiency of at least 37%. Having good 3-point shooters will force opponents to expand their defensive range and this is an extremely important factor in LeBron James’ breakthrough play.

Even when changing his playing style to suit the team, LeBron James still has an impressive 3-point shooting rate despite being 39 years old and not starting out as a pure long-range thrower. Besides, LeBron James also has an MVP-level teammate like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander by his side, as well as the huge development potential of Chet Holmgren. Not to mention, the defensive ability of the Oklahoma City Thunder belongs to a good group in the NBA.

Not only that, Oklahoma City Thunder also has the best coach for the 2023/24 season, Mark Daigneault. At the Los Angeles Lakers, many people have pointed out many shortcomings of coach Darvin Ham that caused the team to have extremely unfortunate losses. With Mark Daigneault, the ability to change tactics and read game situations will improve significantly, helping LeBron James not have to play too hard in the long-distance race.

Besides, Oklahoma City Thunder is a talented team, but what they lack is the bravery and experience to compete in the Playoff round. That’s something LeBron James has in abundance after 21 years of fighting in the NBA. A combination between Thunder and LeBron James could help both advance to the NBA Finals series and have a chance to compete for the championship.