The Lakers are obviously in a much better situation to win now then they were last season; and potentially next season they could acquire more talent with all the free agents. All I'm saying is that if LeBron's primary goal was to win more championships, he could have chosen a better situation than LA, in my opinion.
I think most of us aren’t seeing that, or at least don’t think it’s as clear as you do.
Obviously, he could’ve signed a one-year deal with the Warriors for the league minimum and virtually guaranteed himself a ring, then repeated that process each summer for the rest of his career. I don’t think you’re suggesting he should’ve done that.
Looking at places where he could have signed and gotten paid:
Cleveland — Once the ping-pong balls didn’t bounce their way, the Cavs had no realistic prospects to get materially better.
Houston — Not at all clear they were willing to clear the decks for LeBron. And I’m not sure how good a team with two ball-dominant players (one of whom isn’t a particularly good defender) and a bunch of scrubs would be.
Philly — LeBron doesn’t fit well with Simmons and Embiid, and the guys who would fit well with him (Redick, Saric) would’ve had to go to clear cap space. Those Sixers still would’ve been better in 2018-19 than the Lakers as currently constructed, but I think the Lakers are better positioned to contend beyond next season.
Miami — They were this season’s weakest playoff team and would’ve had to jettison some pieces to fit LeBron. Probably still a better option than staying in Cleveland, but with no obvious path to landing a second star, Miami seems worse than several other options, including the Lakers.
Others — It’s hard to know what other options were actually available to him. Would the Cavs have done a S/T to facilitate LeBron going to Boston or Washington? Was there any interest from Indiana, which seemed to have the ability to create a max spot without fitting their roster? Did any teams make a serious push and manage to keep it out of the press?