The future of LeBron James is a massive question mark and while the market is still relatively wide open for him after a stellar age-41 season, one former teammate of his has his doubts that LeBron will go anywhere other than the Los Angeles Lakers.

James has been with the Lakers for eight seasons and even though it may seem like Los Angeles is just a footnote in his career considering his iconic runs with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat in the first two thirds of his career, Los Angeles is just as significant a part of his career as any of his other teams. 

One of his four championships has been with Los Angeles and the team is in a better place now than it's been since that championship run with Luka Doncic leading the team and Austin Reaves steadily evolving as a standout guard in the league.

With new ownership fully taking over this offseason and the promise of a bright future ahead, James has a lot of reason to stay home in Los Angeles. 

Of course, the Cavaliers have been thrown out as a possible destination for James as well. They went further in the playoffs this season than the Lakers did and with James nearing the end of his career, a retirement tour in his home city and with the team that he led to it's first-ever championship would be a cinematic end to a historic career. 

But looking at things from a strictly basketball perspective, Tristan Thompson, who played with James in Cleveland, isn't convinced that there's any team out there for James other than the Lakers. 

"Could it be a possibility [signing with Cleveland]? Maybe. But I don't see that. I think Purple and Gold still looks good on him right now," Thompson said (via Yahoo Sports).

That being said, James re-signing with the Lakers isn't a foregone conclusion and there will still have to be a real free agent negotiation with James. 

He's reportedly looking for a contract worth roughly $50 million and for as talented and productive that James still is 23 seasons later, that's still a steep price for a Lakers team that has several free agents to worry about retaining. 

It won't be an easy negotiation, but with the amount of promise that the Lakers have going for them and how much James has already meant for the organization, it makes sense why Thompson would think that a continuance of his tenure in Los Angeles is the right thing to do.