The NBA locals are a year, at least, away from having some real fun in the league’s annual free-agency sweepstakes. The Knicks are committed to their rebuild and are biding their time for Kristaps Porzingis’ knee to heal; the Nets are committed to another year in purgatory, fixated on the summer of 2019 when they will reportedly have around $5 zillion to spend on players, give or take a few trillion.

So this NBA free agency season, which begins in earnest on Sunday, will focus on LeBron James, because whenever James is feeling professionally frisky (or, more to the point, when he is contractually allowed to explore all his options) that is the next-best thing for hoops fans to an honest-to-god basketball game.

His choices are varied and they run the gamut from East Coast to West Coast to, of course, staying where he is right in the middle. Wherever he decides to play next year, it is inevitable that there will be a tsunami of reaction, because that is what LeBron specializes in whenever he makes these seminal career choices.

There will be no “Decision,” capital “D,” this year the way there was in 2010 when he told the world (via ESPN and Jim Gray) that he was migrating to Miami, and there will likely be no emotional internet message the way there was four years later when he told the world (via Sports Illustrated and Lee Jenkins) that he was returning to Cleveland.

But there will be reaction, you can count on that. James has, after all, spent the last four years in an unending public embrace with many basketball fans who admire that he helped his hometown win its first NBA title ever, its first in any professional sport in a half-century. If he isn’t universally popular, it’s only because basketball fans in Boston and Toronto and Indianapolis, among others, have seen him personally serve as a road block to their own championship ambitions.

Hard as it may be to remember all these years later, though, when James made his first foray into free agency things weren’t quite so warm and fuzzy; you could argue, in fact, that a player of his level of popularity has never spent so much time as public enemy No. 1. This passage, from Ian Thomsen’s superb book “The Soul of Basketball,” is a reminder of just what a forest of flame he jumped into then:

“LeBron, responsible as he was for his new team’s vilification, wanted no part of playing the villain. His popularity among consumers was in free fall: only 14 percent of Americans viewed him in a positive light.

“‘Instead of his change to the Heat being seen as the best way he can win a championship,’ said Henry Schafer, executive vice president of the Q Scores Company, ‘many have looked at it and how he chose to announce it as a selfish move.’”

So there will be a reaction. How good? How bad? Depends on his answer, and his decision (lowercase “d”). Here is what you can expect from the public response, ranked from most popular to least (or least offensive to most, if you prefer) of the five destinations he is likely to choose.

Widespread reaction: Good for the Ohio kid for staying in Ohio.
Local reaction: How long before the pope can consider him for canonization?
League reaction: Oh, good. Two or three more years of the road to Golden State going through Cleveland.
Overall take: If he bails, it won’t be nearly as angry a divorce as it was in 2010 because he delivered on his title promise. If he stays, it won’t be nearly as emotional as when he came back in 2014. Surely Cleveland wants him to stay, but the fact is he’s 34, and as indestructible as he is, he won’t be at this level forever. Time, eventually, would have its say. But it would be cool if he retired a Cav.

Widespread reaction: The Process gets the final piece, and it’s a doozy.
Local reaction: The Sixers won their first title with Wilt Chamberlain and their second with Dr. J. When icons play in Philly, they play iconically.
League reaction: Oh, good. Now the road to Golden State goes through Philadelphia, instead. At least there’s cheesesteak.
Overall take: There seems to be a consensus building (or already built) that LeBron and reigning Rookie of the Year Ben Simmons would have a hard time fitting together, that if LeBron’s on your team he dominates the ball, and if someone else is dominating the ball then having Simmons is useless. But, man, this would be a fun experiment to watch develop.

Widespread reaction: Now that’s some kind of Big 3.
Local reaction: When you already have the guy who was voted MVP on your team (James Harden), how can adding someone who is the presumptive MVP every year be a bad thing?
League reaction: Oh, good. Houston in June. Does Wally Matthews still have his column logo with the cowboy hat?
Overall take: From a purely basketball standpoint, putting LeBron, Harden and Chris Paul together and letting mad scientist Mike D’Antoni have at it could be awfully irresistible. Although it is a fair question to ask: Even if LeBron likes Houston — and it is becoming increasingly likely this is a long-shot destination — do they need him? The Rockets were probably an ill-timed Paul injury away from already being champions.

Widespread reaction: Is it reasonable to think of an NBA team winning 75 games?
Local reaction: Who?
League reaction: Oh, good. It’s only been 15 minutes since the Celtics won their 17th banner, we were wondering what took so long.
Overall take: Obviously the most interesting impediment is the presence of Kyrie Irving, the one LeBron teammate who ever dared to publicly cross (and then run away from) him. There is also a genuine parochial sense in New England of: We can do this without his help — which is probably a good perspective to have since this seems an improbable destination. And the locals might well be right, if all the pieces stay healthy next year.

Widespread reaction:

This was an inevitable pairing from the day LeBron was born.

Local reaction:

Eventually all great players discover their destiny, and usually that destiny leads them to Southern California.

Bonus Knicks fan reaction:

“WHY IS IT A LEAGUE CRISIS WHEN THE LAKERS GO A FEW YEARS BETWEEN PLAYOFF APPEARANCES BUT WE’RE A MAJOR MARKET TOO AND WE CAN FALL OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH FOR DECADES — FOR DECADES! — AND THE NEXT SAVIOR ALWAYS FINDS A WAY OR A REASON TO GO SOMEWHERE ELSE? WHY? WHY? WHY?”

League reaction:

Oh, good. Another generation of Beautiful People and Botox People crowding courtside and mugging for the cameras.

Overall take:

Taking his talents to Southern Cal won’t be as infuriating to the masses as taking them to South Beach was … but it’s awfully damn close. Unless you’re a Lakers fan, the notion of another Laker Rising is more than a little nauseating. Suggestion: Stock up on Maalox.