NBA Analyst Identifies LeBron James' 'Best Bet' to Win Another Championship

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers clearly aren't a championship contender with their current roster.

Following their first-round playoff exit at the hands of the reigning-champion Denver Nuggets, the Lakers are now looking ahead to their next NBA campaign.

The LA franchise could land a big-name free agent or trade for a star player this offseason, but neither of those things are guaranteed.

According to ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler, LeBron's "best bet" to win another championship is to make his way over to the Eastern Conference.

"They're going to be a play-in-ish team if those guys are back there again next year, and that's just not good enough in the West," Legler explained on Get Up. "You already have Denver to deal with. You also have young teams that are just gonna get better in Minnesota, Oklahoma City and Dallas.

"... His best bet if he wants to win again, honestly, would be to go to one of those teams in the Eastern Conference — Philadelphia and New York at the top of the list. That would be his best shot because it's the path of least resistance."

As the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference this season, LeBron and the Lakers were matched up against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets in Round 1. Denver has had LA's number over the last couple years, and that doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon.

Related: Magic Johnson Identified the 'No. 1 Reason' the Lakers Can't Beat Denver

According to reports from ESPN insider Brian Windhorst, LeBron intends to opt out of his contract with the Lakers this offseason — making him a free agent for the first time since 2018.

LeBron has since denied those reports, saying he's yet to make a decision on his basketball future.