Lakers News: Cavaliers Would Be Open To Reunion With LeBron James
Lakers News: Cavaliers Would Be Open To Reunion With LeBron James. Would Los Angeles Lakers All-NBA forward LeBron James be open to a third stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team that chose him first overall out of St. Vincent-St. Mary’s University?
High School of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 2003? During the 2022 NBA All-Star Game held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, James said, “The door’s not closed on that.”
He went on to praise team president Koby Altman, saying, “I think Koby and those guys have done an unbelievable job drafting and making trades.”
After all, James won two of his four MVP awards with Cleveland teams that made deep playoff runs from 2003 to 2010. He returned from 2014 to 2018 and led the Cavaliers to four consecutive NBA Finals appearances, including one victory (the 2016 series, in which the Cavaliers famously rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Warriors).
In a recent episode of The HoopsHype Podcast, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com told HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto that the Cavaliers would be open to James returning in free agency after the end of his current deal with the Lakers, which would expire at the earliest in the summer of 2024.
However, the Cavalier’s front office likely wouldn’t be open to James having the same control over roster decisions during his previous stint with the team.
LeBron left
The Cavaliers finally had a winning record after LeBron James left for the Lakers last year, going 44-38 and having two rookies, point guard Darius Garland and center Jarrett Allen, make the All-Star team.
However, Allen’s injury prevented Cleveland from advancing past the play-in tournament.
The Cavaliers made a big move this summer by trading for three-time All-Star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell in exchange for guard Collin Sexton, forward Lauri Markkanen, 2022 lottery selection Ochai Agbaji, three future first-round draught picks, and two swaps.
However, the most promising player on the team may be a player who didn’t even make the All-Star roster last season, second-year big man Evan Mobley.
For the summer of 2024, when James could opt out of the final season of his Lakers deal, the Cavaliers have $109.3 million in committed salaries on their books, not including cap holds.
If Altman can find a way to move off point guard Ricky Rubio’s $6.4 million salary that summer without incurring returning guaranteed money, it could help carve out more space under the NBA’s estimated salary cap, leaving the Cavaliers with around $40.
James will turn 40 during the 2024–25 NBA season, so whether or not he would be willing to take a large discount to fight for another title in Cleveland with this young core remains to be seen.