As was the case during the 09-10 season, speculation on where LeBron James will play following the upcoming season is one of the NBA's favorite storylines.

James can elect for free agency in the 2014 offseason with both the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers in position to offer a max contract for him to leave the Miami Heat.

"In general, the beauty of our league is that all this stuff is drama," said one Western Conference general manager.

"With every player, there's a drama involved. A lot of it is not necessarily true but some of it is. Everyone loves to speculate about everything, and I think that's what makes it fun."

James has repeatedly said that he is not thinking about his decision in 2014.

"The way that free agency is happening right now, there's always going to be speculation," said a second general manger.

"What's going to happen is you're always going to have some teams and they're going to try to put themselves in position [for James]. If they can strike it, they're going to make sure they have the money and ability to do that."