{"id":2022010,"date":"2026-07-01T20:09:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T17:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2022010"},"modified":"2026-07-01T20:09:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T17:09:36","slug":"could-lebron-james-sign-with-nuggets-why-mile-high-city-makes-sense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2022010","title":{"rendered":"Could LeBron James sign with Nuggets? Why Mile High City makes sense"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"Article_ContentContainer__jBNW3 article-content-container bodytext1\">\n<p>Could LeBron James wind up in the Mile High City? It seems unlikely, if only because of the conventional wisdom <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7412478\/2026\/07\/01\/lebron-james-next-team-retirement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">surrounding his free agency situation<\/a>, but that doesn\u2019t mean the Denver Nuggets won\u2019t try.<\/p>\n<p>A league source, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect sensitive conversations, confirmed that the Nuggets have indeed reached out to James\u2019 camp to formally register interest, as was first reported by The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2026\/07\/01\/lebron-james-nba-free-agency-nuggets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Denver Post\u2019s Bennett Durando<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid1\" data-position=\"mid1\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>And now, as we all wait to see what the 41-year-old James has in mind for the final chapter of his legendary career, it\u2019s worth taking a look at the reasons why he should give this option serious consideration.<\/p>\n<p>For starters, league sources close to James have made it very clear that the chance to truly contend \u2014 yes, for a title \u2014 is his top priority. The Nuggets, who still employ one of the baddest big men in the history of the game in Nikola Joki\u0107 and an elite guard in Jamal Murray (who earned his first All-Star berth last season), check that box. Secondly, those same sources indicate James is truly open to considering any and all options around the Association.<\/p>\n<p>So while Golden State, Cleveland and Miami are widely seen as James\u2019 unofficial top three suitors, the fact remains that James has told his agent, Rich Paul, to field all of the offers and then they will go from there. If you\u2019re James, who is somehow still playing All-NBA level basketball at this unprecedented late stage, you\u2019re probably very curious to see what Paul ultimately comes back with in terms of the possibilities.<\/p>\n<p>(As an aside, most of this logic also applies to the known interest that was lodged from the Minnesota Timberwolves, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7410378\/2026\/07\/01\/lebron-james-minnesota-timberwolves-free-agency\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">as reported by our Jon Krawczynski<\/a>).<\/p>\n<div id=\"inline-graphic\">\n<p>        a.showcase-link-container {<br \/>\n  display: flex;<br \/>\n  gap: 20px;<br \/>\n  flex-direction: column;<br \/>\n  align-items: center;<br \/>\n  padding: 20px 0px;<br \/>\n  border-top: 1px solid rgba(150, 150, 147, 0.4);<br \/>\n  border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(150, 150, 147, 0.4);<br \/>\n  text-decoration: none;<br \/>\n  color: #121212;<br \/>\n  cursor: pointer;<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link {<br \/>\n    font-family: nyt-franklin;<br \/>\n    font-size: 14px;<br \/>\n    font-style: normal;<br \/>\n    font-weight: 700;<br \/>\n    line-height: 13.8px;<br \/>\n    letter-spacing: 1.1px;<br \/>\n    text-transform: uppercase;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-image {<br \/>\n    border-radius: 8px;<br \/>\n    object-fit: cover;<br \/>\n    width: 200px;<br \/>\n    height: 150px;<br \/>\n    margin: 0px;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      width: 120px;<br \/>\n      height: 120px;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-inner-content {<br \/>\n    display: flex;<br \/>\n    flex-direction: row;<br \/>\n    gap: 16px;<br \/>\n    width: 100%;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-text-content {<br \/>\n    display: flex;<br \/>\n    flex-direction: column;<br \/>\n    gap: 20px;<br \/>\n    justify-content: center;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      gap: 8px;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-title {<br \/>\n    font-family: nyt-cheltenham;<br \/>\n    font-size: 24px;<br \/>\n    font-style: normal;<br \/>\n    font-weight: 500;<br \/>\n    line-height: 120%; \/* 24px *\/<br \/>\n    letter-spacing: 0.01px;<br \/>\n    text-overflow: ellipsis;<br \/>\n    overflow: hidden;<br \/>\n    display: -webkit-box;<br \/>\n    -webkit-box-orient: vertical;<br \/>\n    -webkit-line-clamp: 3;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      font-size: 16px;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-excerpt {<br \/>\n    font-family: nyt-imperial;<br \/>\n    font-size: 16px;<br \/>\n    font-style: normal;<br \/>\n    font-weight: 400;<br \/>\n    line-height: 139%; \/* 19.46px *\/<br \/>\n    color: #323232;<br \/>\n    text-overflow: ellipsis;<br \/>\n    overflow: hidden;<br \/>\n    display: -webkit-box;<br \/>\n    -webkit-box-orient: vertical;<br \/>\n    -webkit-line-clamp: 4;<br \/>\n    @media (max-width: 600px) {<br \/>\n      font-size: 12px;<br \/>\n      line-height: 121%;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<br \/>\n}<\/p>\n<p>.showcase-link-inputs {<br \/>\n  .showcase-link-input {<br \/>\n    width: 100%;<br \/>\n    font-size: 1rem;<br \/>\n    background-color: white;<br \/>\n    margin-bottom: 12px;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  .showcase-link-indent {<br \/>\n    margin-left: 25px;<br \/>\n  }<\/p>\n<p>  option {<br \/>\n    width: 100%;<br \/>\n  }<br \/>\n}<\/p>\n<p>@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {<br \/>\n  .native-mobile a.showcase-link-container {<br \/>\n    background-color: #121212;<br \/>\n    color: #f0f0ee;<br \/>\n    .showcase-link-excerpt {<br \/>\n      color: #c4c4c0;<br \/>\n    }<br \/>\n  }<br \/>\n}<\/p>\n<p>            \/\/ Remove all onclicks on imgs for apps to prevent image zoom on click<br \/>\n            document.querySelectorAll(&#8216;.showcase-link-image&#8217;).forEach((img) =&gt; img.removeAttribute(&#8216;onclick&#8217;));<\/p>\n<p>        <a id=\"showcase-link-7410378\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7410378\/2026\/07\/01\/lebron-james-minnesota-timberwolves-free-agency\/\" class=\"showcase-link-container in-content-module-link testbed-shortcode\" data-shortcode-id=\"101\" data-shortcode-string=\"showcase-link\" data-content-id=\"7410378\" data-content-post-type=\"article\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"showcase-link\">What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n<div class=\"showcase-link-inner-content\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2026\/07\/01003806\/GettyImages-2213770373-1024x683.jpg?width=400&amp;quality=70\" alt=\"Timberwolves among teams to contact LeBron James in free agency: Sources\" class=\"showcase-link-image\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"showcase-link-text-content\">\n<div class=\"showcase-link-title\">\n                  Timberwolves among teams to contact LeBron James in free agency: Sources\n              <\/div>\n<div class=\"showcase-link-excerpt\">\n                  The Timberwolves reached out to James after his exit from the Lakers while also bringing back guard Bones Hyland.\n              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>        <\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>There\u2019s this part of the Nuggets pitch as well: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2018\/11\/27\/lebron-james-recruited-by-nuggets-josh-kroenke\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">As has been reported previously<\/a>, James is close friends with Nuggets team president\/governor Josh Kroenke. The two reportedly vacationed together in the summer of 2016 after James led Cleveland to the title, and Kroenke even gifted James a retro Nuggets jersey in 2018 as part of a summertime attempt to land him in free agency (that\u2019s when James signed with the Lakers). The two men have shared interests in the soccer world, too. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6565126\/2025\/09\/04\/arsenal-ownership-josh-stan-kroenke\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kroenke is co-chair of Arsenal<\/a> and the Colorado Rapids in MLS (which are both owned by Kroenke Sports &amp; Entertainment, headed by his father, Stan Kroenke). James, meanwhile, is an investor in Liverpool FC and AC Milan.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container\">\n<div class=\"ad-wrapper article-treatment\">\n<div class=\"ad-slug-container\">\n<p class=\"ad-slug\">Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mid2\" data-position=\"mid2\" class=\"ad place-ad\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Last but not least, James\u2019 recent choice to become a golf addict is a fringe factor as well (and that might be selling it short). For what it\u2019s worth, Golf.com ranked Colorado the 10th-best state in America for golfing back in 2015, while highlighting all sorts of courses in the Denver area.<\/p>\n<p>None of which means that James is headed for the Rocky Mountains, of course. But his choice to cast such a wide net at the start of this process means a situation like this deserves the spotlight. And upon further review, there\u2019s a decent case to be made for him to give it a good look.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Could LeBron James wind up in the Mile High City? It seems unlikely, if only because of the conventional wisdom surrounding his free agency situation, but that doesn\u2019t mean the Denver Nuggets won\u2019t try. A league source, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect sensitive conversations, confirmed that the Nuggets have indeed reached out [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-2022010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2022010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2022010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2022010\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2022010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2022010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2022010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}