Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James joining the Los Angeles Clippers is a real possibility

LeBron James joining the Los Angeles Clippers is a real possibility.

LeBron James could join the Los Angeles Clippers very soon.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle‘s Bruce Jenkins, people close to James insist that he’ll leave Cleveland next summer and that he’s particularly interested in living in Los Angeles, California.

"Those close to James insist that he will opt out of his Cleveland deal next summer and that he’s very interested in moving to Los Angeles, where he owns a home, where his kids are enrolled in a private school (just in case the family moves west), and where James’ business conglomerate has established a base of operations."

This a heavily anticipated move that many would expect to bring Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony to Los Angeles as well.

If Chris Paul opts out of his current contract and then re-signs, the Clippers would only be able to sign James next season if they traded some combination DeAndre Jordan, Austin Rivers and Jamal Crawford for Anthony and Wade took a pay cut.

In looking at the Clippers salary cap table for 2019-2020 season, they’re set to enter the 2019 offseason with only Brice Johnson on the roster (on a non-guaranteed contract). In effect, by renouncing all cap holds and exceptions, the Clippers will have at least $106.5 million in cap space (not including Paul’s contract).

That’s more than enough to sign James and whoever else he’d want to play with. If the Cavs win the title in the 2018 NBA Finals, James would be able to defend his championship in Cleveland and leave for Los Angeles if he doesn’t have the chance to three-peat.

While the Clippers have been reluctant to break up their Big 3, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Jerry West is set to move on from his advisory role with the Golden State Warriors and take on the same role with the Los Angeles Clippers. With that in mind, West may be the person who finally gets head coach Doc Rivers to move on from his current Big 3 of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.

Rivers, who’s also the Clippers’ president of basketball operations, is already dealing with rumors that Paul plans to court a number of Western Conference teams in free agency and the injury-prone Griffin could be on the Boston Celtics radar.

If James was to be joined by the Banana Boat in 2019, Paul would have to re-sign with the Clippers this offseason, Wade would have to sign with the Clippers as well (or sign a one-year deal with a different team) and Anthony would have to stick it out with Phil Jackson and the New York Knicks until the natural expiration of his contract (the 2019 offseason).

With that said, it shouldn’t be hard to get all four players on the Clippers.

To be fair, no matter where Paul signs, the Banana Boat bros. could follow: the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets will all have enough cap space to sign the quartet.

Both the Rockets and the Spurs will have an MVP candidate on the roster, while the Rockets, Spurs and Clippers will all have a head coach who names will be mentioned with the all-time greats.

For those that wonder if James would sign with the Lakers, Paul is unlikely to sign there with the logjam the Los Angeles Lakers may have at the guard position. However, Paul George seems set to join the Lakers in 2018.

James could sign with the Lakers and try to lead a young team through the Western Conference or the Lakers could swing a trade for another All-Star. In any case, if James was to sign with the Lakers, it wouldn’t lead to him playing with his friends before they retire.

At some point, competing for championships with his best friends may be all James really wants.