The first real domino of the 2018 NBA free agency period fell when Paul George, somewhat surprisingly, opted to return to the Thunder on a four-year, $137 million max deal with a player option. George, of course, was thought to be in line to join the Lakers, which in turn was supposed to be an additional lure in convincing LeBron James to come to L.A. 

Now that's out the door. 

All along, there have been four teams believed to have a chance to sign LeBron. The Nuggets are reportedly trying to take their shot at a meeting with James, but for now let's focus on the original four teams in the mix and where they stand after LeBron's opt-out and the first few dominos to fall in free agency. 

Teams affected by LeBron James opting out
1
Rockets

For all intents and purposes, you can cross Houston off the list, as given its cap situation the only feasible way to land James was for him to opt in with the Cavs before facilitating a trade to Houston. This way his salary would've gone on the Cavs' books, because remember, you can go over the cap to re-sign your own player. From there, the Rockets, who are well over the cap themselves, could've engineered a deal by matching James' money with a package of players centered on P.J. Tucker and Eric Gordon and a handful of spare parts to make the money work. 

Obviously you can forget that now. 

In theory, the Rockets could still engineer a true sign and trade if James were to re-sign with Cleveland as a free agent, but that is a much more complicated endeavor that would likely require Houston to renounce restricted free agent Clint Capela, after already having lost Trevor Ariza to the Suns, to get below the tax apron, an additional requirement for a true, free-agent sign and trade -- rather than an opt-in and trade -- to go through. 

If that sounds like a bunch of lawyer talk, it is. Going over the CBA rules driving all these transactions feels like you're setting up the Rockefeller family trust. Just know this: The whole point of getting James to Houston was to add him to a team that won 65 games and was one win from making the NBA Finals, not to add him at the expense of two core pieces that would somewhat cancel out the value of getting him in the first place. Now that James has opted out, you can pretty much forget the Rockets, who, as an aside, should now be seen as a virtual lock to match any offer Capela gets on the open market as their whole attention shifts to bringing back last year's team as close to fully intact as possible. 

2
Lakers

James opting out is good news for the Lakers from the standpoint that it's not bad news (which is what his opting in with the Cavs would've been, because that would've likely been a sign he was facilitating a sign-and-trade, as mentioned above, probably to the Rockets). That said, this hardly clinches James ultimately signing with Los Angeles, particularly with George now out of the mix. This basically just keeps the Lakers in play as the slight favorite to land him, as they've been for some time now. 

What this really does is further crank up the urgency on getting a trade for Kawhi Leonard done. A very reasonable scenario is still out there where the Spurs send Kawhi elsewhere, perhaps to the Sixers or the Celtics, and suddenly James is faced with being the only star on the Lakers, at which point he might well return to the Cavs for one year and just do this whole thing again next summer. 

The pressure is on the Lakers big-time here. Their whole plan over the last few years was to create the cap space necessary to make a run at two max free agents starting this summer. They can still get LeBron, and potentially Kawhi, and they have a meeting with DeMarcus Cousins. They can still put a lot of talent together, even with George being out. But the clock is ticking. With this opt-out, James has basically said to the Lakers: "I'm here for you. Make me an offer I can't refuse." 

That offer would be the chance to play with at least a second star, if not a third. 

The Lakers are working feverishly as we speak to make that happen. 

3
Cavaliers

James opting out is also good news for the Cavs. It keeps them in play as, in my estimation, the firm backup plan if the Lakers and maybe the Sixers potentially fall through. Had James opted in, he likely would've been doing so to facilitate a trade. The longer this goes on without any big names heading to the Lakers to further entice James, the greater the chance that he simply returns to the Cavs for another year. It would probably be on a one-year deal with a one-year player option, which would set him up to do this all over again next summer when more teams will have cap space available. 

Put it this way: Cleveland was very happy when George returned to the Thunder. 

4
76ers

This is the wild card. The Sixers didn't need James to opt in like the Rockets did, because they can pretty reasonably create the cap space to just sign him outright by getting off Jerryd Bayless' contract, perhaps by packaging him up with Robert Covington or this year's first-round pick Zhaire Smith, or maybe even Markelle Fultz (although reports say they're against adding him in a potential deal.)                      

Where this really gets interesting is Philly has a very attractive package to offer for Leonard, with reports out there that the Spurs could be interested in a deal involving Dario Saric and Covington. San Antonio would clearly prefer to trade Kawhi to the East, even if they've predictably backed off their stance of ruling out a trade with a team from the Western Conference. And if he were to end up in Philly, if the Sixers could live with the risk of him being a potential one-year rental, suddenly James joining Philly would become his only real chance to play on a superteam next year. 

Imagine the possibilities of a lineup including James, Kawhi, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Yes, James would have to play off the ball more as Simmons is not equipped at all to do so with his inability to shoot outside 10 feet, but from every other perspective, this is a juggernaut. Defensive versatility. Playmaking everywhere. This would be an incredible team. Keep an eye on this.