On Monday, ESPN’s senior insider, Shams Charania, said he spoke to LeBron James’ agent and ‘every contender in the NBA has essentially since the season ended placed a call.’ The 41-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer, and recently confirmed when we can expect to take that call. But this non-commital, wait-and-see strategy is what a former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate has an issue with.

“We took the bait,” said ESPN analyst Perkins, who was part of the 2003 draft and teamed briefly with James on the Cavs in 2015. “He threw his fishing pole out there and let the bait just hang, and he caught some big fish, caught the attention that he wanted, while he’s sitting at home. Look, I be knowing LeBron all my life. He moves like the president; he already has a plan in place. He knows what he’s doing; he knows what his next move is.”

Perkins further added, “he knows what the counter gonna be. He knows where he wants to go, where he wants to be, and if he wants to be on the Lakers; he already knows that. This right here was just throwing the bait out to get some more national media attention real quick, to get people talking about it, and here we are talking about it again.” It’s not the first time that the ESPN analyst has criticized LeBron James’ move.

It was in 2024, when Kyrie Irving made a deep playoff run with the Mavericks, that LeBron James publicly voiced how much he missed being Kyrie’s running mate. Perkins even then ripped LeBron on-air for grabbing headlines for himself. This even led to King James unfollowing his former Cavs teammate on X. Later, Perk would deliver one of the most newsworthy quotes. “Everybody didn’t follow Jesus, I’ll be ok.” So, the criticism of the 22x All-Star’s free agency behavior remains, as he dropped the fresh intel about the future plans.

Still balling out as the first option for the Los Angeles Lakers has now fueled rumors that he is surely coming back. Is that the case? “I’m still in the moment of just taking my time,” James said on the recent episode of Mind the Game podcast. “I haven’t even really thought about it too much. Obviously, I understand that I’m a free agent and I can control my own destiny… but like, I haven’t even really got to that point. I haven’t even taken my family vacation yet, which is going to happen after Memorial Day. That’s kind of the thing at the forefront of my mind.”

While Bron remains non-committal, behind the scenes, the teams are making their moves. We already had the Cavs and the Warriors in the forefront, but let’s not discount the Denver Nuggets. Reporter Matt Moore stated, “The mechanism is pretty simple, which is if you got the MLE available, use it on LeBron.” Another Nuggets analyst, Ryan Blackburn, also detailed another complex plan.

“Sign five minimum contracts, you draft the 26th overall pick and then you sign and trade LeBron James and Peyton Watson for each other, and LeBron James can take as much as $11.1 million in order to be Denver’s starting small forward,” Blackburn said. Just like Nuggets, Lakers, Warriors, Cavs, and others have started working on the math. But there are some former teammates who want King James to have a storybook ending.

Another former teammate wants LeBron James to return ‘home’

One of the most reported options remains a reunion with the Cavaliers. The team where Bron began his career and where he delivered the first title during his second run. It’s a perfect ending narrative for the Ohio native. This is what Channing Frye also wants.

“Go back to Cleveland,” Frye, who is a member of the Cavs’ 2016 title victory along with James, said on the Road Trippin’ Show. “That’s what I want to see. Go back home. Last year, let’s get it done. “Cleveland can move on from James Harden. So now they have a ball handler. They have a guy who can play four different positions. He’ll make them tougher or he’ll call them out and get them traded. Either one. That’s just facts.”

There is a small roadblock, as the Cavs would require a serious financial sacrifice. But insider Jake Fischer clarified the 41-year-old would not be open to signing a minimum contract. So now teams, including the Cavaliers, will have to consider when drawing up the plan for LeBron James.