Cleveland Cavaliers fans know the reality of a LeBron James tenure. The king of Cleveland basketball expects the front office to built a championship contender year after year, even if he has to prepare to leave.
The four-time champion has spent his longest consecutive tenure of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, but as he approaches season 23, James could be ready to move on from the Lake Show. After accepting his $52.6 million player option for this season, LeBron's agent Rich Paul released a cryptic message regarding James' Lakers relationship.
"LeBron wants to compete for a championship. He knows the Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we've had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers a critical part of his career"Rich Paul, Klutch Sports CEO
Paul goes on to say he and James will closely evaluate Los Angeles' moves this offseason and determine what is best for his life and career for the coming season. With the arrival of Luka Doncic and the Lakers' perspective shifting to long-term successes, the potential for James to seek a trade is perhaps the most likely it has ever been in his career.
James, at 41 years old, is nearing the end of a historic career but is still showing an ability to be a superstar on a championship squad. In his 22nd NBA season, James averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists en route to his 21st All-NBA selection.
Unsurprisingly, James' latest Lakers rumors have spurred much discussion about a final homecoming for LeBron and the Cavaliers. By accepting his player option, James retains a no-trade clause, meaning he can control the trade process and his destination. If LeBron wants to come back to the Cavs for one final ride, he could dictate exactly how that happens.
The Cavaliers have no realistic path to bring LeBron home
Cavs fans know LeBron's history of cryptic messages, social media posts and comments during press conferences. James wants to win a fifth championship before retiring, but leaving a team stacked with a star like Doncic is rarely going to be the best option to accomplish that. Cleveland has experienced James' repeated not-so-subtle habits.
Even with the potential for James to force his way to his hometown Cavs, the likelihood is slim at best. Cleveland's inflated salary cap has pushed them into the second apron of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement tax rules. In any trade made, the Cavaliers cannot stack salaries to match LeBron's $52.6 million price tag unless the Cavs would drop enough extra salary to exit the second apron once the trade processes.
According to Bobby Marks, the Cavaliers are roughly $19 million over the second apron after re-signing Sam Merrill this summer. To complete a LeBron reunion trade, Cleveland would need to part ways with any number of core players and role players, including Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland, Max Strus, De'Andre Hunter and Dean Wade. In a best-case scenario, the Cavs could retain one of Garland and Allen alongside Hunter to maintain star power and wing depth.
Accomplishing the immense salary dump would drain Cleveland's depth chart significantly and would require a massive multi-team deal to complete. Additionally, aggregating salaries to dip below the second apron would hard cap the Cavaliers at the $207.8 million second apron threshold. With James back, the Cavs would have no realistic path to filling out the rest of the 14-man required roster size while staying below the apron hard cap.
For as exciting as a final ride to the NBA Finals with the Kid from Akron could be, Cleveland Cavaliers fans know LeBron James is no stranger to threatening to leave a franchise to force the front office to go all in. The Cavaliers, though an exciting thought, know the reality of James' veiled threats.