Magic Johnson, at a news conference where he expounded on the Lakers’ free-agent strategy, made a case that the only team in the league with the cap room to sign two stars outright would still need “two summers” before he could be fairly judged as the team’s top executive.

Just two years removed from the wild (some would say reckless) spending in the summer of 2016 after the salary cap jumped a record $24 million because of an influx of television revenue, here’s an indication of how hamstrung many teams feel by luxury-tax concerns and the like: There were no trades during this year’s draft involving current N.B.A. players. That hasn’t happened, according to research by ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, since 2003.

But those are all post-LeBron concerns. Nothing else matters much until James has landed.

You’ll recall that in his first two stints as a free agent — in 2010 and 2014 — James announced his destinations on July 8 and 11. League traffic tends to come to a standstill while he deliberates.

Perhaps his decision-making will be faster this time. Perhaps not. Either way, James’s fate — as well as how the teams chasing him respond to whatever he does — will dominate discussion along with the potential resolution of San Antonio’s season-long Kawhi crisis.

I will continue to say that James owes the Cavaliers nothing, and has nothing to fear about damaging his legacy, if he decides to leave Cleveland again, after delivering in 2016 the championship he promised. I also reject the notion that James will pick the Lakers only if Leonard or George, or both, will join him.

Remember: The most definitive thing we know so far about James’s free-agency leanings is his disclosure after the finals that family considerations will play a bigger role than they have before. If his family decides Los Angeles is where it wants to be full time, it’s not difficult to envision James making the leap with great belief that his presence will help Magic flank him with the requisite help eventually, if not immediately.

My biggest questions beyond LeBron:

Can the 76ers win the trade sweepstakes for Leonard, since it looks as though their dreams of James or George were just that?