Cleveland Cavaliers fans have been left searching for answers since the Pacers eliminated their team in the second round of the NBA Playoffs in just five games. The hot discussion has been whether the Cavs should run it back with the same group next year or shake up their core with a major trade.
Some NBA analysts have even suggested that the team should trade for Lakers forward LeBron James, who spent 11 years in Cleveland and brought the city its only NBA Championship in 2016. However, NBA insider Brian Windhorst shut down any rumors of a hometown reunion on ESPN Cleveland on Tuesday morning
The Cavs have a core of guys in their 20s who are signed to long-term contracts, and they’re trying to figure out how to get this core over the hump,” Windhorst said. “You do not trade guys in their 20s for a guy who is going to turn 41 this year.”
According to Windhorst, it would not be worth it to disrupt a core of Evan Mobley (23 years old), Darius Garland (25), Jarrett Allen (27) and Donovan Mitchell (28) that could contend for titles for years to come in order to acquire James. The all-time great is likely in the final years of his career and would immediately shorten the Cavaliers’ championship window
The trade also doesn’t work financially. As a second-apron team, the Cavaliers cannot aggregate salaries in a trade, meaning the front office could not give up multiple players whose contracts add up to the $52.6 million James is owed next season in a potential deal. There is only one scenario in which James could realistically return to Cleveland, but it involves the Akron native leaving a lot of money on the table.
“If he wanted to come back on a minimum contract, the Cavs couldn’t sign him to anything else,” Windhorst said. “You’re not trading guys in their 20s for him. That’s lunacy.
An NBA minimum contract for someone with more than 10 years of experience is expected to be worth $3.6 million and would require James to decline his player option this summer to become a free agent. James also has a no-trade clause in his contract, meaning he would have to approve any deal that the Lakers agree to if the team decided to move him.
The 22-year veteran just received Second-Team All-NBA honors, following a season in which he averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game. Led by James and midseason acquisition Luka Doncic, Los Angeles was the third seed in the Western Conference, but lost in the first round of the NBA Playoffs to the Timberwolves.
