LeBron James has the Cleveland Cavaliers on the cusp of a title after storming back from a 3-1 defecit against the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals.
And if the Cavaliers win, could James leave in free agency?
Maybe it’s not as outlandish as it sounds, especially with teams such as the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers hanging around with ways to bring James on board. Ponder this note by Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical:
One more victory, one more magnificent night at Oracle Arena, and James will get to run off with his buddies again somewhere warm. Miami. Los Angeles. Wherever. There’s a restlessness about James that craves the next big move, the next power play. Franchises are on watch again, believing nothing’s forever in Northeast Ohio. Sooner or later, there’s a belief that James comes into play again, a line of thinking that his inner circle has done nothing to dissuade. As for James himself, well, he has gone so far as to publicly describe an end-of-career scenario that doesn’t include Cleveland.
Sounds crazy, right?
Negative. James felt he owed something to the city of Cleveland after The Decision and his rings with the Heat. He came back and he’s oh so close to getting the city its ‘ship. And if he does, who says that means he has to stay in Cleveland the rest of his career?
It doesn’t.
At all.
James loves Cleveland. It’s home. But winning a championship there could mean more cash in a place like Miami, a better living environment and a reunion with close friends such as Dwyane Wade.
The Cavaliers aren’t a terrible option for James by any means. But one has to understand that James will slow down sooner or later. And when he does, he’s going to need a superb cast around him. Miami has proven time and again it can provide such an environment, having just nurtured Hassan Whiteside into superstar territory. Locales such as Miami and Los Angeles will always attract more free agents than Cleveland, which, by the way, has the floundering Kevin Love and little else besides Kyrie Irving.
This is all one big game of “what if” right now. If the Warriors go out and win Game 7 Sunday night, forget it—James isn’t leaving Cleveland. If the Cavaliers win, though, it’s best to keep this storyline in mind because this could be so much more than just the summer of Kevin Durant.
