Why the Brooklyn Nets Had a Chance to Sign LeBron James in Theory

LeBron James was considering signing with several teams in free agency before ultimately deciding on the Philadelphia 76ers.

Given his choice to head to Philadelphia and apparently opting to live in New York City, it's not out of the realm of possibility that he would've chose to sign with the Brooklyn Nets had they had an attractive enough roster to sway him into making Barclays Center home.

For what it's worth, James considered the then-New Jersey Nets in free agency back in 2010.

It appears that in this free agency period, James's primary motivation was to go to a team that gave him the best chance of winning, but it's quite possible that he wanted to play as close to the Big Apple as possible, as his agent, Rich Paul, disclosed that his prized client would've headed to the Mecca had the New York Knicks not have won the 2026 NBA Finals.

The Nets have attracted a myriad of superstars before, but if you look at this year's roster, adding a 41-year-old James to it does not catapult Brooklyn into championship contention.

Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle are fine players and can help a team win meaningful basketball games, but relying on them to carry the scoring load is not a recipe for success. Egor Dëmin and Mikel Brown Jr. are also a few years away from making meaningful contributions on the court.

But if the Nets were able to bring in a different superstar after the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving era and truly commit to their vision of remaining competitive instead of going for the tank, there's a chance James could've decided to rock Brooklyn across his chest instead of Philadelphia because a commute across the Brooklyn Bridge is obviously a lot easier than trekking it all the way through New Jersey, whether he decides to get to Philly via ground transportation or an aircraft.

All things considered, the Sixers were lucky to have been able to draft and keep Joel Embiid through all of their highs and lows and capitalize on opportunities to bring in a rolodex of stars to remain competitive. Drafting Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe and trading for Jaylen Brown only helped their cause.

Had the Nets have been able to keep at least one of Durant and Irving and stay in the playoff mix, perhaps they could've lured The King to take their throne in the swansong of his career.

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