Harden and Green have refused to sign contracts, waiting for James to join! The Lakers have lost five starters.

Today, prominent journalist Shams reported that Rui Hachimura joined the LA Clippers on a two-year, $28 million contract. As a result,the entire starting five that helped the Lakers win a playoff series last season have all departed.They are: Kennard, Smart, Hachimura, James, and Ayton.

The Lakers' knack for breaking up their team is second to none—we witnessed it back in 2021 when they dismantled their championship roster. The five starters leaving this year: Kennard signed with the Suns, Smart with the Rockets, Hachimura with the Clippers, Ayton was traded to the Wizards, and James has yet to choose his next team.

Shams continued to report that the Nets, Spurs, Timberwolves, and Warriors all made offers to Hachimura, but he refused to leave Los Angeles. He was only willing to re-sign with the Lakers or join the Clippers.

Hachimura and his agency reached a consensus with the Clippers early in free agency, aiming to finalize a signing contract. They originally planned to wait for the Lakers to complete all their offseason moves and then attempt a sign-and-trade, but the Lakers were unwilling to cooperate. As a result, the Clippers and Hachimura directly finalized the signing, allowing him to stay in his preferred city of Los Angeles.

During his four seasons with the Lakers, Hachimura played 228 regular-season games, averaging 12.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists. In the playoffs, he appeared in 36 games, averaging 12.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 0.9 assists.

A two-year, $28 million contract is a great value, and the Lakers have lost another key player. Next season's Los Angeles derby—Hachimura will be highly motivated against the Lakers.

Now, let's talk about LeBron James's situation.

In an article by ESPN senior Lakers reporter Ramona Shelburne, a Lakers insider stated that a team known for treating its stars well for decades has not done enough for James.

"Honestly, I don't know if we've fully acknowledged the sacrifice he made this season by willingly handing over the keys to Luka and Reaves. Of course, he has a strong ego, and people can say what they want about that. But he is also the all-time leading scorer in basketball history, and this season he truly gave everything, doing whatever was right for the team to win."

Today, James posted a training clip on social media, featuring his familiar yoga ball. Anyone who has trained this way knows it requires exceptional body control and elite core strength to perform such moves.

At 41 years old, only an extreme passion for basketball could drive someone to maintain such discipline day after day and sustain their competitive level.

James is in no rush to decide on his next team; he wants to see which roster best fits his style. Most importantly, the team he joins must make him truly happy playing basketball.

NBA reporter Evan Sidery reported thatJames Harden and Draymond Green will both remain unsigned until James makes his decision.Both have opted out of their contracts to give the Cavaliers and Warriors additional salary flexibility to aggressively pursue James.

The Warriors and Cavaliers are serious—they're holding off on signing players to wait for James. Cleveland reporter Danny Cunningham reported: "If the Cavaliers can sign James, they might trade Jarrett Allen for a wing player to improve floor spacing. The team needs better outside shooting and the ability to defend opponents' primary scorers on the perimeter."

The picture of which team James will choose is becoming clearer.

In a recent program, James's agent Rich Paul revealed that he will evaluate potential next teams for James based on the following dimensions:

1. Team's defensive efficiency rating
2. Individual players' on-ball defense and help defense capabilities
3. Overall offensive system
4. Coach and team's ATO (after timeout) play execution success rate

Rich Paul said: "When I evaluate teams, I dig deep into a core point—whether the players at the same position on that team have historically valued every possession and prioritized efficiency on each play."

Simply put, James's new teammates would be mostly high-IQ players who rarely make mistakes on the court, have excellent offensive and defensive efficiency, execute plays well, and have championship-contending quality.

So which teams meet these criteria? Perhaps you already have an answer in mind.