Should the Cleveland Cavaliers make an ALL-OUT PUSH for LeBron James if he truly wants out of LA?

Should the Cleveland Cavaliers make an ALL-OUT PUSH for LeBron James if he truly wants out of LA?

But OK, back to the Cavs topic we were going to do before the Amani Bates news. LeBron James opted into the final year of his contract over the weekend and gave some interesting comments via his agent to ESPN, which sparked some could LeBron come back to Cleveland rumors. This is what Rich Paul said to Shams over at ESPN. Quote, 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 Polinka and consider the Lakers as a critical part of. His career, he went on to say that quote, we understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count and the Lakers understand that and are supportive and want what’s best for him. Doesn’t necessarily sound like the normal comments you hear from a guy getting ready to play his final season after just opting into a 53 $52.3 million dollar player option. Jason, did these comments also, uh, raise a little bit of an antenna in your head that something could be brewing in the LeBron camp in terms of his future with the Lakers and maybe even Cleveland? Uh, it’s, I mean, he’s been doing this to teams his entire career. The difference is now they’re not building around him anymore, so I don’t know. It was this is how he held the hammer for years and years and years, and he doesn’t really have the hammer this time. He opted into the contracts in the last year of his deal. I don’t think he’s coming back to Cleveland. I said that before. I thought like there was just so much noise around the Brownie draft last year that I just kept thinking like, OK, is there something going on here that I don’t totally see. But uh I it, it, it’s that’s over as far as I’m concerned that’s I think that’s over for a lot of reasons actually um I don’t know where he goes from here, you know, Ty was put in the chat about our group chat about the fact that he picked up the option, um, you know, NBA, the NBA is built today on trades. It’s not really free agency movement anymore. It’s by and large trades, but when you’re trying to match a $52 million salary and go to contender. That’s really hard to do and then how much you want to give up for a guy who’s at this stage of his career. He’s still a phenomenal player, but how much is actually left? 1 year? I this is last year, 2 years? Uh, and, um, and listen, guys can change their mind, right? Like. You’re not beholding the answers you gave seven years ago, but I remember talking to him in 2018 about how many teams is too many, and he didn’t think in any way that three was too many, but you know, we’re, do you really want to see LeBron in the 4th jersey and for the last year or two of his career? I don’t know that I necessarily do, um, so I was a little bit surprised by the comments and the timing of them. But I don’t know ultimately where it’s gonna lead if anywhere. This is just sort of how he’s operated throughout a lot of his career, um, but we’ll see. I, I, I don’t know where the landing spot is for him if it’s not LA. I, I don’t know where the next move is. I don’t see it yet. Well, before you go, real quick, I just wanna make sure people understand for everyone clamoring to bring him back to Cleveland. The financials to make a deal work like that incredibly complicated, difficult to navigate. Is it possible? Yes, but it’s about 15 hoops to jump through. Continue. Well, listen, if you, if you’re LeBron James, I think this comes, I think this comes as Three things happened to me which spawned this conversation. He had a conversation about a week or two ago talking about considering the fact that why rings don’t count anymore, right? And uh people rate them through the through the coals on that from all, all media guys to old guys to new guys and LeBron, despite what people will say, is always listening. And he’s, he’s, when you get to a, a midlife crisis, right, like, you know, you have these things where you, you, you kind of inconsistent in what you’re talking about sometimes. Sometimes you wanna go to work, sometimes you don’t wanna go to work. Sometimes you wanna go on vacation, sometimes vacation get too boring. I wanna work, I wanna still, I got some other stuff to achieve. His son is in the league now and what he’s realizing after people raked him through the coals, he said, I’m already at 4. He looked around and looked and looked at the situation. He’s like, let me look, what is KD doing right now? All right, he, he over here doing this. He’s looked around the league and the thing that also he looked at is this. It’s kind of wide open. It’s kinda I know Oklahoma City Thunder is over here, but LeBron, I’m telling you, you’re anywhere in the west, you’re not winning. I don’t care what you do. You got Luca and whoever you want. You’re not beating some of these teams. You gotta go through Minnesota. You got to go through OKC. You still got you y’all can’t beat the Denver Nuggets consistently. What are you talking about? You guys, it’s a wrap. You’re not winning over there. Now here’s the thing. But the east though? The east is kinda, I told you if you ever wanted to win, the best place you ever gonna win. It’s going to be Cleveland. That’s just is what it is. Now you need to decide whether you want the money, hang out, be a family guy or do the movie thing. I don’t know what you’re gonna do, but, but, but two of those things can’t happen at the same time. You’re gonna have to lock back in because the last couple of years I don’t think you’ve been locked in like that. I think his stats haven’t dropped. The stats ain’t dropped, but he knows. LeBron’s smart enough to know that even with him playing with Luca last year, — this ain’t
— enough. Yeah, — because it’s only one major
— ain’t this ain’t this ain’t enough, and they told him, plus you got new people coming to the building. Jeannie bust them them cashed out. Think about it. They did all cashed out. They’re not. He, he, he reported to new people and nobody wants to deal when you’re an old veteran. When you’re an old veteran and they make that regime change Jason, you’ve been dealing with Tom — or Terry
— takes a lot of new energy. You now you wanna take me out to eat and tell me about your new protocol for 10 years. I’m, I ain’t got 10 years left. I’m only thinking about 2.5 in a possible. I don’t listen, I’m, I’d rather go some, but you know what? There’s a nice, you, you know, you know what the, you know, y’all don’t get along too well, but, but you know there’s a person in Cleveland that uh. You got a little history, but at least you know what his, his personality is like and he knows what your personality is like. And let me tell you this too. When you get a little bit older and you start feeling that thing where you’re mortal now and you’re like, man, I’m starting to think about my, my, my, my, my, what I’ve done and my legacy and my afterlife and my past life and all that good stuff. People start to not care about no bread. I, I mean how much money can you spend, bro? He’s a billionaire. You how much money you spend, but you know what they’ll remember you for? Rings and rings, bro. They, they count. Let me ask some questions as an uninformed. Business side of the NBA and I got two guys here that I can pick their brains. Is it possible this is the last year of his deal and he’s unrestricted after the season, correct? OK. I was reading the comments from the fans, which LeBron never wins in those, because he’s the target, and that’s OK. He knows that now. You’re right, he does look. I think now he just is like, OK, when you’re driving your two door spec to work tomorrow, yeah, like think about my money. So here’s my questions. He took, he opted in, he took the money and everybody said, oh I guess you really wanna win you wanna win so badly you’re handcuffing your team, right? Isn’t that the general wasn’t that the general tenor of the comments? Mikey says yes. He took a lot of heat for it, you know, on one hand you can’t say I really wanna win, and on the other hand you can’t say, but give me all I got coming. — He’s
— the reason. The TV deals look the way they are. You’re right. — I get
— that league is built on his back totally get that. Tom Brady was the same thing in the NFL. And you know what? Tom Brady was never the highest paid player on his team. What does that say about Tom Brady? I think Rings, baby. Give me the rings. OK, so follow me here. He said, that’s a lot of money to leave on the table. I’m not gonna leave that money on the table. I’m gonna take it. I’m gonna play out the string. And then I’m gonna write the last fairy book chapter of my tale. I’m gonna go to Cleveland. On a one year Whatever the lowest amount of money he can take. And I’m gonna try to become, once again, the savior, the piece that puts Cleveland over the top. Is there, now there’s another option that I’ve thought of too. I think that’s the best option for the end of LeBron James’ book. He comes home and he closes it out with another one. And then the Cavs will have 2 championships. LeBron would have been a part of both of them and all of the other 50 years of their existence. They didn’t win. — There’s a
— problem, Jason. Dan Gilbert I believe in his heart of hearts would love — nothing more to win a championship without
— LeBron. He would, you know what, — but I want a pony for those
— two things are conflicting a little bit, right? They are, and you’re right. And, but I want a pony for Christmas. I’m getting it. And so you know what, a BMX bike would be pretty good. I’ll take it. And here’s the thing, it’s hard to turn down. — Truth
— serum. Dan Gilbert, Truth serum right now. We’ll role play. Dan. Would you like to own the team for 10 more years and not win a title, or would you like to bring LeBron in and roll the dice on winning one more? I think he wants more than anything to do it without him. I, I, I don’t know. I don’t, I don’t know. We don’t know. It’s a guess. It’s a guess. He’s further along in his life. His priorities have changed. He’s a different Dan Gilbert than he was 5 years ago. He’s already won one with them. I know he has and he’s, but you know what, you can win one with him and none without him, or you can win 2 with him and none without him. All he’s heard throughout the time he’s on it is you can’t do it without him. — You can’t
— do it without him. Fine. Maybe he can. And you know what, sometimes you gotta accept reality. You know what’s funny is, can he come back before we go on from that? Here’s the part I don’t understand. I don’t know business wise. Can he come back to Cleveland next year on a one-year league minimum for a veteran? What would that number be? — A couple of million dollars and
— he will not do he’s not gonna. So Jay, here’s how you do the mental gymnastics, OK? He’s getting what, 50 2 $52. So he goes 52, say he gets 10. Dan throws him a bone. That’s 62/2, that’s 31 averaged for the last two years of his career. LeBron is not counting pennies anymore. He’s a billionaire. The principle of it. I get that it’s the principle of it, but at some point. You help write your legacy, and part of his legacy will be at the end, LeBron bankrupted his teams when he could have taken less to win. Winning wasn’t as important to him. Tom Brady’s the goat, LeBron James is not. Listen, I’m not, I’m, I’m as pro-capitalists as they come. I’m not gonna tell a guy you need to take. I am too. I’m not gonna tell a guy you need to take less. I, I’m just not like if you if you like Jose chooses to do that, Jose Ramirez, good on you, dude. I’m, you know, that you want to make that personal decision. That’s on you. That doesn’t mean everybody else needs to make that. Does it change his legacy with the Cleveland fans because there’s still a large percentage of Cleveland fans that want nothing to do with them. Well, and they’re stupid for that. I know they are, and I and I’ve said that too, but there’s that doesn’t change the fact that there are still guys, there are fans here that say, oh, LeBron’s dead to me. I don’t care. I don’t care. But the day he comes back, this town would lose its marbles. No, it wouldn’t I’m telling you. Wrong. No, because it’s LeBron coming back and all the 4th that make a ton more money when he’s in. — They would
— go nuts. That’s excitement. And you know what, it’s just excitement. James is in the building. People that don’t like him are not going to change their mind even if he comes back you know when they will. — So why would you
— worry about that trophy when he gets that trophy? They’re still not. He already brought him a trophy. You’re like, yeah, but you’re gonna, you’re gonna continue to hate LeBron if he comes home and wins another title. Yes, — I’m
— not. Does he have a no trade clause? Yeah, LeBron is a full trade. OK, well, no, no, my, my scenario is he plays next season in LA. I’m trying to, and he comes home for his last one or the other scenario that I thought of because you said, could we really imagine him with a 4th jersey? There’s only one other jersey I think he wants to wear that he hasn’t worn. The Knicks, the Knicks. He owns the garden. Something happens when LeBron James walks in that building. He just puts the cape on, and he’s already got one. It’s worth mentioning he’s never played away from his family. It doesn’t mean he can’t, right? Doesn’t mean he can’t. Just hasn’t happened at this point. He’s never played. He’s always played Savannah and the kids have been with him. Now the kids are getting older, but Zuri is still the next stage of life. Zuri is still only like she’s like my daughter’s age. She’s like 12 I think. So you know, coming into the formative years, I’m sure he wants to be around his daughter. Um, and do you really wanna to uproot for one year, you know, that’s something else you have to consider. How do you, — let me ask you this question
— got a home here. Let me ask you this. This is, this is, I guess, and you’re the best person to give me this answer. At this moment, just purely speculating, what do you feel like he believes his legacy is? Does he feel his legacy is secure, or does he feel, does he feel sort of self-conscious about it like he needs he needs something else left to put on, — I don’t think so
— if he had, if he had to roll out today, he’s good with it. But you know what, you know what? I can tell you this, I, and I agree with you, Jay. I do, I, he’s done enough and when he makes comments like that, I think he’s kind of hedging bets too, but if you ask him if 4 is good, 5 is better. He would, and, and the Cavs are at the place — where he is the missing piece
— for him to come back now, I, I, I’m not convinced that they, that they want him. Yeah, yeah, and, and you might be right. I don’t know, but you know what, here’s the fight, but like this, I don’t want to turn this into, I know where this is gonna go, and I know the kind of trouble that lies ahead for me when I say stuff like this, but they won 64 games without him. They did and they won one playoff series. I know, but I, but like it has passed the point. I don’t care about the 6481 as an organization — and
— as an organization they have passed the point. Of like now you’re admitting we can’t do it without you. Yeah, that’s we’re saying listen but guess what, they haven’t, but not ready to admit that. Are they, are they gonna beat Oklahoma City next year without LeBron James? I have no idea. Would they have a better chance of beating Oklahoma City with LeBron James. Oh, of course. OK, let’s go. Let’s go. What are we waiting on? — They’re not put the eagles inside
— the missing. — Plus you
— expect him to play on a league minimum. That’s not gonna happen. That is not. Here’s the thing with LeBron James. — He told me
— in 2018 when we were talking, like the last thing he wanted to do was play with his son, and he said it’s not about money at that point. I’ll play for whatever. Well, he’s already done that and we were talking about like the mid-level and he goes, I ain’t a mid-level player. He’s here’s the problem with what LeBron James tells you. You can Google any one of his comments. Oh, he’s constantly changing and then you can go Google the antithesis of that comment and you will find that he said that too. What is LeBron, you, you mentioned when a guy gets into his, I, I love listening to you say that because your insight on that is dead on. When you hit 40 years old. You change your view on everything in the, in the world. It’s crazy and I didn’t and people told me that was gonna happen to me and I’m like, no, I’m not, but you do. And so I don’t blame LeBron for saying when he was early in his career in Cleveland that he was always gonna be in Cleveland. I don’t blame him for that because things change. And then he decided, you know what, my legacy is gonna be how many rings did I win, and I can’t win one here, so I’m gonna go chasing rings despite the fact he said, I’m never gonna go chasing rings. But he couldn’t. So, but then he could just decline the player option this year and sign a league minimum, and I think the juxtaposition of that was I’m leaving $50 million on the table. I’m not ready to do. That right now I’m gonna take it and I’m gonna bet on myself that I still have two very highly productive years in me and that I can still be a difference making peace with the Cavaliers in 2026. You know what irks me though? It, it does irk me as a, as a person who does believe that LeBron to me is the best basketball player ever, it irks me that there’s these, these stands who’ve never seen Michael Jordan play ever a day in their life. They’re just repeating what We should repeat it’s Michael Jordan. I’d be wanting to look at it and be like, listen, it has to be something in your heart that says, listen, I’m at 4. I, I got the time to get to 5, man. I get to 5. Now I could get Tim Duncan out of here. I can get Kobe out of here. And then who the hell knows the last one I might get some magic off. You think, you think if especially if you get a good supporting cast when he’s, when I hear him talking like that, that’s a conversation that him and Rich Paul are sitting there and they’re looking at these comments and they’re listening to how people talk and they’re listening to Steven A’s and the skips laugh and joke and he said, I’m two away. You put me, I get one more. You can’t you really can’t tell me, — especially if he wins one at 42 years old
— at that point, that point, he like, yo, that puts you at a different stratosphere, — and I think he’s caught between I love you
— guys a question if because for some it is about rings and there’s a well, he’ll never get to 6. If he were to win one at 42 and get to 5, to me, I, he’s already the goat to me. But how, what percentage of the fans that have Jordan as the current goat would change their mind if LeBron gets to 5 and he wins his 5th at 42 years old. Nobody’s right. — You’re you’re either in or you’re in the
— camp. You’re in your silo and you’re not coming out. I changed my mind. I feel like it’s very, it’s very tough to get there. Um, we changed our mind all the time. Kobe Bryant was not a top 5 player until he died. Yeah, well that’s true. Yeah, that is he was not like now all of that all that stuff, the mixtape comments that he was telling, like all of that is gone. Barry, you look at, you look at what happens, they just move people. Now listen, I’ve always said it’s a, it’s a human cheat card if you win in Cleveland, you keep going. Nobody has ever won hasn’t he won it in 3 different cities? Oh, he’s the first. — Robert Or do
— it? He’s the first to lead a franchise to 3 different champions. If you come back at 40+ years old and you win another championship in your home and you, you have to, you have, and especially if it, because the thing that LeBron gives is not the athleticism or whatever, it’s this. It’s the, the, the, the mental mindset to be like, hey, no, this is what we’re doing this is how you beat this team, we gotta be focused, we locked in. That’s the problem with the Cavs. Hey, Jared Allen might get physical. — LeBron James might force him to
— like this it’s a different mindset, but I, I think to me, I, I’m competitive and I’m not, I’m not, I’m a nobody. There’s something inside him that has to keep saying I need to keep going because I’m not secure with my legacy or they would never say that. No, — I would
— just ride — it
— out bets. He’s trying to convince himself that it’s OK. And if you don’t want, if you’re done competing, just say I’m gonna ride this out and do whatever I’m gonna do. But you, you can’t say at the same time he’s still in it to win it, but and then say. To your team, yeah, I need that 52 m. Like it’s, that’s not how it works, and I know he’s not a mid-level player. Of course he’s not, but you know what is the fifth ring worth enough to to to LeBron James to for one year take a discount? It would be a great story for him to come back and end his career here. It’d be great for how narratives go and all that. It would be wonderful. I, I’ve after last year I just kind of put it out — of my mind
— because he had an opportunity to do it. He had an opportunity to do it and and he he passed on it and, and now I think certainly he also wanted to play with Bronnie — and
— he made that happen and that wasn’t gonna happen here. It could have, but anyway, it doesn’t matter. It didn’t, and but I, I just think. I, I’ve, in my head, I’ve just closed it off that it’s over. Do you remember when Tiger won his last major when he won the Masters? I, — I’m old enough that I remember when Jack won the Masters at 46
— 18. Uh, was it 18 or 19? I can’t remember what year it was. When you, there is something about, I remember I was much younger. I watched Jack win his 18th major. He won the Masters at 46. And I remember I knew Jack, Jack’s legacy was, he was the greatest of all time, but I remember the opining and the fawning over that story. It was not, I’ve never seen anything like it. The commentators were almost crying. And if you think I’m looking that up or making that up, go, go watch the, the, the last round if you can find it at the Masters when Jack won. It was, I remember thinking to myself, wow, this might be one of the biggest sports stories of my life. And here’s why it was the Inarguably greatest player who everyone thought the sun had set on his greatness and at 46 years old, he’s out here beating 22 year olds in the biggest tournament in the world. And when he won and the hoopla and the like it was like, wow, Jack’s got a rebirth. Jack is important again. I think LeBron, if he were to come to Cleveland because it’s home. And to win 1/5 at 42 would eclipse Jack winning the Masters at 46. I think you would see people crying when they talked about it on TV. And this is really quickly. Brady’s biggest ring to me was the Tampa Bay. I agree with that because he told everybody he did it without Bill, number one. I, I’ll take these bums. That’s right, but they got to get out of here. Yeah, and so that would be equivalent to Jack at 46, Brady at 45, and, and LeBron at 42. Like I’m telling you, I think the world would lose its mind. And as for everybody being in their silos. I would agree with that if LeBron had retired, then the hays in the barn for both. But you can’t tell me if LeBron was to come back and, and was, I’m, I’m making this up. I’m not predicting this, but if he was to win an MVP and a and a championship at 42, there’s more hay putting in that barn, and there will be people that say I’ve changed my mind.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is exercising his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul told ESPN on Sunday.

James, the NBA’s career scoring leader, wants to compete for a championship next season and potentially beyond and will be closely monitoring the Lakers’ moves and whether the team is positioning itself this offseason to field a title-contending roster, Paul said.

“LeBron wants to compete for a championship,” Paul told ESPN. “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 as a critical part of his career.

“We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what’s best for him.”

James, 40, is entering a record-setting 23rd NBA season and has said he remains uncertain about whether he has one campaign left or wants to play multiple more years. | https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45608010/lebron-james-picks-526m-option-monitoring-lakers-moves

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