Toronto Raptors dark horse destination for LeBron James

LeBron James will become a free agent at the end of the 2017-18 season. If LeBron wants to cement his legacy as the greatest ever, then a move to Los Angeles to play for the Lakers doesn’t make much sense. The Toronto Raptors could be a dark horse destination for LeBron James. 

The summer of 2018 is shaping up to be the biggest blockbuster offseason in the history of the NBA. The biggest names in the game are scheduled to become free agents including the likes of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and DeAndre Jordan. The biggest fish in the sea will of course be LeBron James and the Toronto Raptors could be a dark horse destination for LeBron.

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LeBron has spent the past decade trying to cement his legacy as the greatest basketball player ever.

He has done everything within his power to put himself in a situation where he has the opportunity to compete for a championship year after year which is why the rumoured move to Los Angeles following this season doesn’t make any sense.

There have been reports that LeBron’s wife has said that she wants to live full-time in Los Angeles and so the assumption is that is where he’ll go.

LeBron and his family may well move his permanent residence to LA but if he ends up playing for the Lakers he will have little to no chance of improving on his 3-5 record in the NBA finals.

LeBron James wants to win more championships. Period.

The idea of LeBron riding off into the sunset playing for a Lakers team with a bunch of young kids surrounding him isn’t exactly the best option for cementing his legacy as the greatest ever.

LeBron is the same guy who forced Cleveland to trade away Andrew Wiggins who is a far superior talent to anybody on the Lakers roster (including Lonzo Ball) because he didn’t think a young Wiggins could help him win a  championship.

The older we get in life, most of us do everything in our control to have success in our careers by exerting the least amount of energy possible. Many of us use interns or bring in summer students to do our menial tasks that we used to do 10 or 15 years ago. We come to understand that we don’t actually have to do those things anymore to make our business successful.

Can you see LeBron being down with the Lavar Ball circus? 

LeBron is too old to consider doing what he did back in 2007 with Cleveland and try to single handedly win a championship on his own with the Lakers. The thought of going through the entire Western Conference with Ball and Brandon Ingram as his supporting cast is just too big of a task for anybody; even King James.

LeBron’s best opportunity to win another championship is through the Eastern Conference which is exactly why the Toronto Raptors could be a dark horse to land LeBron in free agency in the summer 2018.

If LeBron goes to Toronto, he will have a veteran supporting cast around him that would allow the Raptors to coast through the Eastern Conference for at least two years.

Teaming LeBron with a pair of All-Star guards in DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry would make a potent combination.

Defence has been thrown out the window in today’s NBA and that trio of DeRozan, Lowry and LeBron could score 130 points a night and blow right through their Eastern Conference opponents.

The Raptors also have a solid veteran front court with the likes of Serge Ibaka who has been named to the NBA All-Defensive team three times over the course of his career. Ibaka just re-signed with the Raptors on a three-year deal.

Toronto also has a serviceable big man in Jonas Valanciunas but they would likely have to add another veteran in the front court who can score in order to get past their Western Conference foe.

LeBron loves the city of Toronto.

We know LeBron loves the city of Toronto because he just spent the past four days hanging out in the city with his buddy Drake for the annual Caribana Caribbean Festival.

LeBron has spent parts of his summer in Toronto every year over the past decade (aside from Olympic years) and he spoke publicly about his respect the support the Raptors receive from their fans.

Toronto has the resources for LeBron to win another championship.

The teams ownership (MLSE) has unlimited resources available to them, the team has an All-Star supporting cast and we know LeBron likes being in Toronto.

LeBron wants to win more championships before his career is over and playing in Toronto would provide an excellent shot at doing so. 

Don’t be surprised to see Toronto emerge as a dark horse contender to sign LeBron James in free agency in the summer of 2018.

Next: LeBron James and Drake in Toronto for Caribana Weekend.