This is shaping up to be a huge summer for the NBA, and no bigger question hangs over The Association than where LeBron James will sign in free agency.
James can opt out of his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and it’s quite possible the 14-time NBA All-Star will take his talents elsewhere … again.
ESPN recently asked 48 players to make their free agency predictions for this offseason, and surprisingly, a sizable percentage believes James will — and should — re-sign with Cleveland.
Here’s a breakdown of the responses, via ESPN.com:
Where will LeBron sign in the offseason?
Cavaliers: 59 percent
Lakers: 22 percent
Heat: 7 percent
Other: 12 percent
Others gaining votes: Grizzlies, Rockets, Sixers, “Not the Cavs”
Where should LeBron sign in the offseason?
Cavaliers: 66 percent
Heat: 8 percent
Lakers: 8 percent
Other: 18 percent
Others gaining votes: Knicks, Rockets, Sixers, “No team in the West”
James has spent 11 of his 15 seasons with the Cavs, including the last four, since being selected No. 1 overall by Cleveland in the 2003 NBA Draft. He also played four seasons with the Miami Heat from 2010 to 2014. Losing James, a native of Akron, Ohio, for a second time would be a crushing blow to the city of Cleveland, but clearly, not everyone thinks he’s gone after this season.
“He won’t leave after all the moves they made last week,” an Eastern Conference forward told ESPN, referring to the flurry of roster moves the Cavs made before the NBA trade deadline.
There figures to be tons of league-wide interest in James, who’s still arguably the best player on the planet. Perhaps that’ll be enough to convince the 33-year-old to leave for greener pastures, although that decision could be an unpopular one among players who value loyalty.
“Honestly, I’m hoping that he stays in Cleveland, just for that city. … But I would definitely understand if he left. It’s a business,” an Eastern Conference forward told ESPN. “You see how they did Blake (Griffin) after bringing him in during free agency, telling him all of this and all of that, and then they trade him away.”
The Summer of LeBron could get wild.
