Empowered News: Reports Show LeBron James Opted Out of His Contract

All indications are that the best player in the world intends to re-sign with the Cavs.

ESPN sources suggest that LeBron James is a strong Dunleavy supporter and that the Cavs will pursue him once free agency opens at 12:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday. It keeps the pressure on Cavs management to do everything it can to give him the best supporting cast possible. The Warriors beat James and the injury-depleted Cavaliers in six games in the finals. With No. 31, the Minnesota Timberwolves, on behalf of the Cleveland Cavaliers, snatched Cedi Osman, a 6-8 small forward who played in the Turkish Basketball League last season.

It’s expected that James will return to Cleveland, unlike the last two times he hit the free-agent market.

The Cavaliers are expected to offer James a gargantuan four-year contract this week but are only able to offer him a maximum of about $22m per year under league rules. Long-term deals are safety nets, guaranteed millions stretched over a four year span (Cleveland doesn’t have LeBron’s Bird Rights, so a five-year deal is presently not possible). With Love and Thompson likely coming back with James, the team will have to be smart with new free agents and a productive player like Dunleavy could come on the cheap.

Why does that matter? The ex- Wizard was mostly a bench warmer and scored under 2 points and rebounds per game, while his salary is set to soar up to $5 million next season.

This time, James is expected to re-join Cleveland after much talk about his devotion to his home region and his vow to turn the Cavaliers into champions and end Cleveland’s 51-year major sports title drought. Translated… that means he has to find one (1) free agent that will fit Cleveland’s MMLE (mini mid-level exception) that current salary cap exceeders get when they have to pay the luxury tax. He will struggle to make this year’s roster, but this highlight tape is pretty impressive.

Because 2016 is when the NBA will receive a huge influx of money from its new US$24 billion television deal, which will in turn raise the salary cap and max contracts.

Advertisement

But the team earlier expressed confidence that their star player will stay with them. And a new CBA could change the parameters of contracts signed from then on. And James will play a prominent role in that fight – he was recently elected vice president of the union, and has been vocal about not letting the owners cry poor to deny players their fair share.