Grade the Trade: LeBron and Bronny come home to Cavaliers in shocking 3-team proposal

Grade the Trade: Do Cavaliers make this trade?

LeBron James is without question the best player in the history of the Cleveland Cavaliers franchise, not only holding innumerable personal records but also taking the team to five NBA Finals and winning the only championship in franchise history in 2016. He may be the best player in the history of the sport, but he is absolutely the best player in the history of the Cavaliers.

It would be something special to see him return home to play in Cleveland before he retires, and even more sweet for him to do that with his son Bronny. For the younger James to start his career in the same place as his father would be the kind of narrative sports movies are based on.

Trading for LeBron puts a lot of pressure on next season, however. It's unclear how much longer LeBron's prime can last; he has certainly stuck it to Father Time this long, but at some point he will take a major step back. If the Cavaliers want to compete for a title with The King, they need to do so next year.

Next season was always going to have a significant amount of pressure, however, because it's unlikely Donovan Mitchell is signing an extension with the team. If they were willing to white-knuckle the year hoping Mitchell would sign the following summer after a deep playoff run, doing the same with LeBron is not all that different.

The issue is that by trading Mitchell for LeBron you miss out on the trade return for moving Mitchell to a different team. Yet this team doesn't appear interested in a step back, so a trade to keep them as competitive as possible may be appealing to the front office. One or two seasons or LeBron James isn't the best trade package out there, but it's a defensible one that would keep the fan base excited about next year.

Some things rise above cap sheets and asset management, and LeBron James coming home one more time to play with Bronny and make a final run with the Cavaliers might just be it.

Grade: A-