Nuggets fans started battling their emotions and dreaming once they heard that LeBron James was set to leave the Lakers, become a free agent, and consider joining any team that would make him happy and help him win, regardless of money. If that didn’t make the Nuggets’ ears perk up, then I’m not sure what would.
It was quickly reported that Denver had indeed reached out to James’ camp, and now you can add even more fuel to the fire as James’ friend and agent, Rich Paul, went on his Game Over podcast with Max Kellerman and brought out a whiteboard to help break down the free agency hunt for James.
Rich Paul’s whiteboard session for LeBron’s next team, summarized:
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) July 3, 2026
- Cores of Sixers, Heat, Wolves, Nuggets, Cavs prominently featured
- Warriors, Mavs, Celtics, Spurs, Knicks secondary
- Mavs mostly listed for non-basketball reasons
- Cavs Assistant GM Brandon Weems a "big X… pic.twitter.com/xXqKodITmA
Notably, the Nuggets were on the board as inner circle contenders as Paul had written down “Murray, Johnson, Gordon, Jokic” with “(Kroenke)” off to the side. The two talked about Denver and the intrigue of two basketball geniuses in James and Jokic teaming up, with Kellerman even suggesting that it would be like if Larry Bird and Magic Johnson had joined forces.
Kellerman called out Paul, pushing him to ask if James would seriously consider going to Denver, and Paul insisted they wouldn’t be on the board otherwise.
Beyond the compelling basketball fit, they discussed James’ friendship with Josh Kroenke and strong relationship with the Kroenke family in general, as he was a frequent guest at Rams games during his time in LA, another team owned by Stan Kroenke.
LeBron's connection to Kroenkes helping the Nuggets' case
For all the criticism that the Kroenkes have taken for how they’ve run the Nuggets over the years, and how they appear to be pinching pennies during Jokic’s prime, they seem to hold some weight here as both Kellerman and Paul talked about their success in winning across major sports with championships in the NBA (Nuggets), NHL (Avalanche), NFL (Rams), and EPL (Arsenal) in recent years.
If the relationship between James and the Kroenkes helped lure the future Hall-of-Famer to Denver, that would certainly be a massive boost for the reputation of ownership with the fans. Furthermore, it may actually convince them to open up the checkbook.
If making money is the goal, nothing would help more than bringing in the biggest show in basketball for his swan song. The amount of attention and money that would pour into the Nuggets with James in tow would far outweigh any losses from paying taxes in the second apron.
Adding LeBron on minimum would be massive boost for Denver
Denver could theoretically bring back their whole starting lineup, re-sign Peyton Watson, plus add James on a minimum, creating one of the best rosters in the league that should be able to go toe-to-toe with just about anyone. Even at age 41, LeBron is still a great player who can run offense, playmake, handle the ball, pressure the rim, get to the free throw line, get to his spots, and ramp it up on defense when needed.
Add in the basketball IQ and the potential mind-meld with Jokic, and this has the potential to be really special. It’s still far from a done deal, as there were 9 other teams on the whiteboard, including four other inner circle contenders: the Cavaliers, 76ers, Timberwolves, and Heat.
But the Nuggets are absolutely in the mix, and this would immediately become the biggest free agent signing in franchise history, and one that could completely change the narrative around the offseason, propping the team right back up to contender status.
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