Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James is able to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, and just like in 2010 and 2014, his free-agent saga will dominate the NBA landscape.
When a player of James’ caliber is set for free agency, rumors tend to run rampant. Everyone has a take on where he should and shouldn’t play.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith on Wednesday’s edition of “First Take” listed seven teams that James will talk to in free agency, including the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors, of course, are up 3-0 on James and the Cavaliers in the 2018 NBA Finals after a Game 3 win Wednesday night in Cleveland. Kevin Durant led the way in the Warriors’ victory with a game-high 43 points, including a 3-point shot late in the fourth quarter that sealed the Cavs’ fate.
Would Durant mind if the Warriors made a major roster change and brought in James? USA TODAY’s Sam Amick asked KD if he’d be OK with the Warriors taking a free-agent meeting with James.
Durant responded, “I don’t think anybody gives a (expletive) about that. I think once the season and everything is over, everything starts over.”
Here’s another exchange they had on the Warriors potentially signing James.
Amick: “So you’d be okay with that?”
Durant: “I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that in broad terms, just overall, I don’t think that stuff matters when it comes to player movement and decisions that are being made with players. But how I’d feel if we would get a meeting with LeBron James? I mean, that’s not – I’ve been trying to separate myself from the front office and those decision makers for a long time, so that’s not on me to do it.”
Durant added he’ll let general manager Bob Myers make the necessary decisions and that he trusts the front office to do the right thing.
James going to the Warriors probably would be the most controversial free-agency decision of all time. Durant took a ton of heat for leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder and joining a 73-win Warriors squad on July 4, 2016. If James goes to Golden State, he’d be doing so after losing to the Warriors in the NBA Finals three of the last four years, assuming the Dubs wrap up the current series.
