Draymond Green Shares Surprising Take on LeBron James' Lakers Future

The Golden State Warriors star weighed in on the uncertainty surrounding LeBron James and offered a perspective few have discussed.

Feb 7, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) moves the ball against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Despite Rich Paul of Klutch Sports trying to set the record straight in terms of all the rumors swirling about LeBron James’ immediate future in the NBA, the speculation continues about whether he’ll return to the Los Angeles Lakers, try his luck elsewhere as an unrestricted free agent or simply retire.

One team that has been getting a lot of buzz as a potential destination for James in free agency is the Golden State Warriors. James has been linked to playing alongside fellow superstar Stephen Curry quite a bit since their time together on Team USA under Steve Kerr.

Draymond Green Shares His Thoughts on LeBron James’ Next Move

Draymond and Tim Legler discuss LeBron And Giannis' futures

Legler on Giannis: "Dame Lillard went through this in Portland, like you get to the point where it's almost like everybody kind of just understands it's time.”

Draymond on LeBron: "I think just from what I see, I don't… pic.twitter.com/Qal1bm1DYC

— The Draymond Green Show (@DraymondShow) June 9, 2026

James is also close friends with Draymond Green, who Paul and Klutch Sports also represent. Green recently chimed in on the speculation on his podcast about his friend’s next move and made an interesting observation: he believes it is more about whether James continues playing than where he might play.

“I don’t think it is a matter of if he goes to another team or not,” Green said of James. “I think it’s a matter of if he continues playing or not. I don’t foresee it like he’s going to Phoenix or he’s going to Golden State. I don’t foresee that. I could be wrong. I don’t know any more than anyone else knows, but I think the happiness that living in the city of Los Angeles brings him is well-documented. We’ve all seen this huge compound that he’s building in the city of Los Angeles.”

With the NBA Finals now in the books and the New York Knicks ending their 53-year drought, teams around the league can start negotiating with their own free agents, including the Lakers, who have quite a few, headlined by James, Rui Hachimura, Luke Kennard and Jaxson Hayes.

Now that the NBA Finals have concluded, Lakers can now begin negotiating with their own free agents. https://t.co/OTIilgOqO1

— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) June 14, 2026

Austin Reaves is expected to decline his player option for next season to secure a long-term deal with the Lakers or elsewhere if contract talks don’t go as planned. Reaves has until June 29 to opt out of his deal. The same goes for veterans Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart.

That’s a lot of moving parts and difficult decisions for the team and its players set to hit free agency. 

It remains to be seen what the Lakers roster will look like around superstar Luka Doncic next season, as it could look very similar or drastically different, with or without James back in the fold in Los Angeles.

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