LeBron James is about to hit free agency, and the 41-year-old will have his share of free-agent contract offers. But with so many of his potential suitors over the cap, he might have to take a massive discount from his current $52.6 million salary. Here is the best contract each of his suitors can offer.Golden State WarriorsThe Warriors are an over-the-cap team, but they have ways to stay below the first apron ($209 million) and use the entire non-taxpayer mid-level exception (about $15 million). One key to clear some payroll would be Draymond Green declining his $27.7 million player option to sign a multiyear contract with a smaller salary in 2026-27, which you have to believe he would do to bring his friend aboard. The Warriors don't have a potential sign-and-trade option that could intrigue the Lakers, so a contract with a starting salary of about $15 million is truly the best they can do. Offer: 2 years, $30.8 million (player option in second season)Cleveland CavaliersThe Cavaliers' payroll is projected to be well over $200 million, and even if James Harden takes a discount from his $42.3 million player option, it would be almost impossible for them to have access to the NTMLE. I could see the Cavs exploring a sign-and-trade of Jarrett Allen for James. Allen is making $28 million, so in theory James could sign a one-year, $28 million contract and be traded for Allen straight up. But pulling it off is unlikely because acquiring a player via sign-and-trade would hard-cap the Cavs at the first apron. The trade wouldn't be legal unless they salary-dumped some of their bench players to teams with cap space, and getting takers for them might not be possible. Offer: 1 year, $3.9 million (veteran minimum)New York KnicksThe Knicks are projected for over $200 million in payroll costs for 2026-27, and considering they are in the Finals, I doubt they'd seriously consider sign-and-trading any of their starting lineup for James. The only option here feels like a veteran minimum contract. Offer: 1 year, $3.9 million (veteran minimum)Denver NuggetsThe Nuggets' 2026-27 projected payroll is just over $200 million, so they won't have access to the NTMLE. But they could trade Cameron Johnson and his $23 million salary for James straight up via sign-and-trade. The Nuggets would be hard-capped at the first apron with almost no wiggle room whatsoever, but they would have James joining Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Christrian Braun in the starting lineup. The key to this deal is the Lakers actually wanting Johnson. This isn't a great free-agent class for the Lakers to use their projected $50 million in cap space, so getting Johnson for $23 million of that might appeal to them. Offer: 3 years, $69 million via sign-and-trade (nonguaranteed for second and third seasons)Los Angeles LakersThe Lakers have about $50 million in cap space. Their plan is to sign free agents with that cap space, and once they do that, they will go over the cap to give Austin Reaves a massive raise, which they can do because they have Reaves' Bird rights. The Lakers can go a number of ways with this space. They can offer most of it to restricted free agent Jalen Duren and see if the Pistons decide not to match. They can offer about half of it to restricted free agent Peyton Watson to see if the Nuggets don't match. If the Thunder decline Isaiah Hartenstein's team option, they can give about half of it to him. Considering the best projected free-agent offer from a rival for James is a $15 million 2026-27 starting salary from the Warriors, the Lakers might get one of their FA targets and then see if James will take what's left of the cap space. It's hard to predict what the Lakers will offer, so I put a range on it below. Offer: One year, in range of $15 million and $25 millionAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow