LeBron James might be eyeing a final return to the Cleveland Cavaliers this offseason for an all-time retirement tour.
James has enjoyed the fruits of an unforgettable career. In 23 seasons, James has won four NBA Finals with three franchises, earned multiple MVP awards, named to the All-NBA team countless times and is undoubtedly one of the greatest to play the game. As he reaches the final years of his career, James' legacy is cemented in basketball history, especially in Cleveland.
The Akron-born legend brought the Cavaliers the franchise's first NBA title in 2016 after returning from a four-year hiatus from Cleveland basketball with the Miami Heat. With LeBron's second exit to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, a potential final run in wine and gold has always been rumored, if for no reason other than the storybook finish to his playing years.
Now, with James entering free agency this summer and the Lakers shifting focus to a Luka Doncic-led organization, that possible reunion is gaining momentum. ESPN's Tim MacMahon has reported there is "rampant speculation" that James is keen on a third stint with his hometown team.
Nothing is set in stone right now, but it is hard to believe James is not at least considering it. The Cavaliers restructured the star core with the addition of James Harden while also adding two key bench contributors with Dennis Schroder (a former teammate of LeBron's) and Keon Ellis.
If LeBron wanted to compete for a championship in his final season without carrying the organization himself, the Cavs are probably the best team to do it.
How the Cavaliers can bring LeBron home
Financially, the Cavaliers made a James reunion a lot easier with their deadline trades. Though Harden is on a maximum contract, his player option this summer could allow the 36-year-old star guard to decline his $42.3 million salary next season to negotiate a longer-term contract worth less annually. This is a move many stars have done in the NBA's new apron era.
The Schroder-and-Ellis trade cleared up more than $8 million from Cleveland's cap sheet, and dealing Lonzo Ball to the Utah Jazz for nothing brought the Cavs within $4 million of leaving the second apron.
If the Cavaliers can drop below the second apron this offseason, they can open up access to the tax-payer Mid-Level Exception and sign LeBron to an amazing bargain deal. Otherwise, the only salary the Cavs can offer LeBron is a veteran minimum without insane tax maneuvers.
Should James want more money, Cleveland would have to make concessions to fall below the first apron and complete a sign-and-trade, but that sort of deal would hard cap the Cavaliers at the first apron. Effectively, a sign-and-trade for James might mean the Cavs have to let both key free agents, Ellis and Dean Wade, walk for nothing. Considering the two-way value those players provide, that is a tough pill to swallow, especialy with how they would likely fit well next to James.
If Cleveland can navigate the cap aprons to keep Ellis and Wade still, a James sign-and-trade would likely push the Cavs to move on from a player like Jarrett Allen, whose $28 million salary next season would serve as a worthwhile offer for the Lakers' Luka future.
Even beyond the financials, though, the Cavaliers would have to answer another LeBron-shaped puzzle once he is on the court.
LeBron changes the Cavaliers big time
Frankly, if James wants to come back to the Cleveland, the Cavaliers will make it happen. He is a once-in-a-lifetime talent, and those kinds of players probably aren't yearning to play in the snowy winters of Northeast Ohio. But, James is known to show love to his hometown, and his recent podcast episode of Mind the Game with Steve Nash showed just how much he loves the current roster in town.
In the timeline that James does return for one final run with the Cavs, he fundamentally changes the team's lineup and rotations. Currently, the Cavaliers depend on the towering duo of Evan Mobley and Allen to anchor the defense. Harden and Donovan Mitchell are the dynamic backcourt, and Jaylon Tyson's emergence as a potential future star gives the team a perfect 3-and-D wing.
Adding James into that mix complicates a lot.
In his age 42 season, LeBron would not be fit to chase shifty guards and wings on the perimeter all game on defense. Recent seasons have seen James play most of his minutes as a power forward, avoiding perimeter defense in favor of using his physical prowess as his lateral speed diminishes.
Putting Tyson back to the bench unit and placing LeBron at the three would hurt the Cavs' defense far more than the team could handle. Assuming adding James back to the team does not require an Allen sign-and-trade, his return could possibly push the long-time starting center to the bench instead.
On paper, James and Mobley could be a solid frontcourt. Mobley is one of the league's most versatile defenders, and James is a physical force who can hold his own in the paint. Offensively, James provides floor spacing and basketball IQ that would obviously elevate Mobley. The potential to have a James-Mobley frontcourt with Allen off the bench might create the greatest bigs rotation in modern league history.
Still, the Cavaliers would lose the two-big lineup that has defined so much of the current era.
The simplest answer is probably to sign LeBron James however is necessary and figure it out in training camp. Cleveland has a highly-respected, intelligent coach in Kenny Atkinson. Allen is a team player, and assuming he is not shipped to LA in exchange for LeBron, he would almost certainly accept a bench role for one season if it meant being the favorite to win a title.
In all, the Cleveland Cavaliers may be entering the offseason with the best problem to solve: LeBron James wants to play for your basketball team, and all you have to do is make it happen. This is an obvious decision to make, especially since James fits perfectly with Mitchell and Harden. James has happily taken a backseat to Luka in LA, showing a desire to move back from being the most ball-dominant star on a team.
A year of a big three of Spida, The Beard, and The King might be the greatest retirement tour season the league could imagine. Finding the way to best utilize that group is the biggest question mark to figure out.