It’s undeniable that the best years of Cleveland Cavaliers basketball, not just recently but in the franchise’s history, came because of LeBron James. A player in contention to be the best ever started his career in Cleveland, had a number of winning series, and ultimately returned to the Cavs years later to take them to four straight NBA Finals and bring home the franchise’s only championship, a comeback from a 3-1 deficit against one of the more dominant teams in league history.
None of that is news to a Cavs fan, nor is it largely debatable. LeBron James is the greatest player in franchise history. What becomes a more complicated and uncertain issue is whether James, now 37 years old, will return for a third stint with the Wine and Gold. Kevin Love seems to think he might, and James himself said the “door’s not closed” on a return. It would certainly be a storybook ending to his career.
LeBron James has hinted at a possible return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. If that return came this summer, what could a trade to the Cavs look like?
Let’s entertain the possibility of a return, and not in free agency but right now, this offseason. There is a lot of turmoil in Los Angeles, from a new head coach to the ineptitude of Russell Westbrook to frequent injuries to Anthony Davis. James can’t feel good about competing for a title next season, even if he is stiff-arming Father Time and still playing at an elite level.
What if he goes to Lakers ownership and says “I want to return to Cleveland, please get the best return you can.” Do the Lakers really try to play hardball with him? Does he go to the press to gain leverage? In today’s NBA when a star player wants out he gets out; how much more so for the league’s biggest star?
Let’s go down this rabbit hole. If James is disillusioned by the Lakers’ roster, motivated to force a trade and picked Cleveland as the destination, what might a trade between the two teams look like? Let’s go over some things to keep in mind for a such a deal, and then look at two potential trades to bring LeBron home.
LeBron James returning to Cavs: Guidelines for a deal
Any trade for LeBron James would have to send back a lot of matching salary. No team in the league has enough salary-cap space to absorb his $44.5 million salary for next season, but the Cavs are unlikely to have any cap space at all. That means they will need to send back a lot of salary to make things work.
One way to do that is to include restricted free agent Collin Sexton in the deal as a sign-and-trade for the Lakers, gaining them a prolific young guard from the deal. The reason that is difficult is that teams who add a player via sign-and-trade are “hard-capped” at the tax apron, which sits around $155.2 million this season. Right now the Lakers are just under the tax apron while still needing to add quite a few players; if they take part in a sign-and-trade they will need to shed a fair bit of salary in the process.
They also might wish to get out of the luxury tax entirely if they decide next season is a reset year, but the Cavs probably can’t help them attain that goal. Adding a third team with cap space, such as the Oklahoma City Thunder, could make that possible, but it would certainly get more complicated than simply bringing James home.
A LeBron James trade would have to include multiple draft picks to incentivize the Lakers to make the deal, and so that the Cavs aren’t gutting their young core just for a short-term run at the title. James loves to “win now” wherever he is, but the Cavs have a long-term future in mind. James would accelerate their timetable, but he shouldn’t supersede it.
LeBron James returning to Cavs: Would Russell Westbrook be involved?
The Lakers currently have an albatross contract on their books, a $47 million one that goes by the name of Russell Westbrook. The former MVP point guard was a deplorable fit on the Lakers last season, a poor fit that could be seen a mile away. James pushed the Lakers to add Westbrook, so he is certainly culpable in last year’s disaster season as well.
Accounting for Westbrook’s impossibly large contract, the fourth-highest in the league, the Lakers essentially don’t have flexibility to improve their team. Trading James for assets can help, but if the Lakers could somehow also move Westbrook that would free them up to really make a run at restocking around Anthony Davis.
That doesn’t seem likely in the trade with the Cavs; they would have to gut their rotation outside of the core 3 (Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen) and then would have to deal with the Westbrook contract themselves. Adding a third team into the mix may be a pathway to that goal. but a lot of assets would have to accompany Westbrook to a team with cap space, or to a team willing to send back rotation players in exchange for draft assets. That’s a “what if” too far for this exercise right now.
The other train of thought would be for the Lakers to build a playoff team around Westbrook and Davis, thus targeting players on the Cavs who would be good fits around those two “stars.” This is the more likely option, as the Lakers could make a run this season and then go big game hunting next year when Westbrook’s contract comes off the books.
LeBron James returning to Cavs: Options for a deal around Kevin Love
The largest salary on the books for the Cavaliers is Kevin Love, who was a top bench player last season but is certainly not worth the $28.9 million he will make this season. Pairing his salary with that of Caris LeVert ($18.7) gets the number to $47.7 million total; the Lakers can add Kendrick Nunn into the deal to get a little bit of salary relief.
This deal is less about this season for the Lakers, and more about next summer. Kevin Love and Caris LeVert are both expiring contracts, as is Russell Westbrook. They could open up an ocean of cap space in the summer of 2023 to make a run at players such as James Harden, Bradley Beal, Kyrie Irving (provided they all decline player options this summer) or next-tier guys such as Fred VanVleet, Jerami Grant, Andrew Wiggins and Myles Turner.
The Cavs also see the least amount of impact to their rotation for next season. LeVert is close to a net negative, and Kevin Love’s impact can be mostly replicated by Lauri Markkanen. The Cavs could re-sign Collin Sexton as a Sixth Man or work out a separate deal for him to land somewhere with a larger role. If Dan Gilbert is comfortable green-lighting a massive tax bill, they could offer Sexton a sizable amount to fully arm themselves for next year.
The Cavs could double down on size and play LeBron James at the 2 with Lauri Markkanen still starting at the 3, but more likely he moves into a high-minute bench role, pairing with Dean Wade as the backup frontcourt players. The Cavs could start Sexton or whatever player they get back for him in a sign-and-trade, or use the Taxpayer MLE to add a shooter. It would certainly be a fearsome combination of size and finishing ability.
LeBron James returning to Cavs: Options for a deal around Collin Sexton
If the Los Angeles Lakers want to reload around Westbrook and Davis to compete this season, this is a compelling return. Collin Sexton is a dynamic scoring threat and has a good enough outside shot to make pairing him with Westbrook at least feasible. That is helped by Lauri Markkanen coming over as well; pairing Markkanen and Davis as the two bigs would give the floor the kind of space that Westbrook needs to survive.
If Sexton starts his salary at $20 million per season (perhaps as part of a four-year, $90 million deal with a $22.5 million annual average) then this deal would reduce the Lakers’ salary by $8 million, which might be enough to allow them to add minimum contracts and buy a few second-round picks and stay under the tax apron. Next summer Westbrook comes off the books and the Lakers can slide Sexton to point guard if they add a dynamic wing threat in free agency.
The Cavs are likely more in favor of this type of deal than the Kevin Love variety. Love is an excellent fit with James, both from a chemistry standpoint and on the court, and the flexibility of his expiring deal next summer is beneficial for a suddenly very expensive roster. They can now use the No. 14 pick on a wing who can step in and play minutes at the 2 right away, someone like Ochai Agbaji or Malaki Branham.
LeBron James making his return to Cleveland this summer is certainly a longshot; it seems more likely to be an option for the summer of 2023 or beyond. Yet it’s certainly possible, and there are a few different options for putting such a deal together. LeBron in a Cavaliers jersey once more, surrounded by this awesome young core, would be a lot of fun for basketball fans.