"Lakers Ain't Winning a Damn Thing": Stephen A. Smith Urges LeBron James to End Career With Cavs

Everybody knows and has accepted that the league is now witnessing the twilight of LeBron James' career. The focus has shifted to how he chooses to write the final chapter of his legendary two-decade journey, one spent terrorizing opposing teams. As such, nearly everyone seems to have an opinion on the matter, including Stephen A. Smith, one of the sport's most divisive personalities.

According to Smith, James should end his career on a high note, which he won't achieve if he remains with the Los Angeles Lakers. Instead, he should come back home to Ohio to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Smith's reason? The Lakers are not beating any of the real contenders in a stacked Western Conference.

"Nobody with sense is going to suggest he should leave LA, not with that Southern California weather," Smith said. "But let's understand, that's the reason he should stay. It ain't for the basketball team because they ain't winning. They ain't winning a damn thing."

Smith said that as things stand, the San Antonio Spurs and OKC Thunder are already unbeatable.

Then he included the Houston Rockets, who will theoretically improve once Fred VanVleet is healthy. He also added the Denver Nuggets, who are only a few bench pieces away from becoming true contenders again.

According to Smith, if James were on the current Cavs squad, he would immediately elevate them into a championship-caliber team.

However, if the Cavs wanted to acquire James, they would need to make some moves to secure the cap space to sign him.

That move will likely involve James Harden, who takes up over $42 million in cap space for the 2026-27 season if he picks up his player option.

He can, of course, decline that player option and then come back on a restructured deal that's friendlier on the team's budget.

However, that will also involve convincing LeBron to take a pay cut, because even then, the Cavs still won't have the $50 million that the Lakers can offer him.

Additionally, the Cavs are a second-apron team. This severely limits their options, as they cannot combine multiple contracts into a single trade. They also are not allowed to do any sign-and-trade deals.

If the goal is to just get out of the West, then there's a different way for LeBron James to do it.

LeBron James Can Join the Miami Heat Instead

If LeBron James' motivation is simply to get out of the Western Conference, Cleveland is not the only option. The Miami Heat is a possible destination for him as well.

Joining the Heat won't feel like some random move just to ring chase as well. His years in Miami were among the most dominant of his career.

Of all the franchises he's been a part of, it's the only one he's won multiple championships with

CBS's Sam Quinn created a hypothetical trade scenario in which the Heat assemble a stacked frontcourt featuring James, Heat center Bam Adebayo, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Giannis is Heat-bound, if all the recent rumors about his trade saga are to be believed.

Once that move is done, they can deal Andrew Wiggins to the Los Angeles Lakers to complete a sign-and-trade deal for LeBron.

Since they aren't a second-apron team, they have more flexibility in doing power moves like this that can propel them into title contention.