All along, the belief was that LeBron James would end up re-signing with the Miami Heat, regardless of whether he opted in or out of his current contract.
If he opted in, things would have stayed simple for this summer. Of course, that didn’t happen. Still, the supposed plan was this: he would sign a new deal with the Heat and willingly take a pay cut, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh would follow suit, and their unselfishness would ultimately help bring in more talent for a chance to win more championships with the Big Three intact.
Things have not panned out so smoothly for Miami, though, with James wanting a max contract and pretty much leaving Bosh and Wade in the dark about his plans. Now, everyone has been left to wonder what may come next.
What we currently know is that James’ agent Rich Paul has been meeting with relevant teams around the league in Cleveland over the past week, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN:
Sources tell @ESPNSteinLine @WindhorstESPN & me officials from Cavs, Mavs, Rockets & Suns met with LeBron’s agent Rich Paul this week in CLE
— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) July 4, 2014
And here are some of the thoughts of those who may have had some conversations with Paul, from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:
Unless Pat Riley lines up talent appealing to James within cap structure soon, one LBJ suitor says: “LeBron seems ready to explore market.”
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 4, 2014
Another team official who met with James’ agent, Rich Paul, in Cleveland tells Yahoo: “I think it’s all a smoke screen.”
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 4, 2014
In all likelihood, James understands that the window of opportunity to win more championships with the current core may have come and gone – evidenced by what he witnessed from his team in the NBA Finals. If that is his mindset, it probably makes little sense to take a pay cut and force himself to stay in Miami. There was some buzz early on about the possibility of bringing in Kyle Lowry, but that option no longer exists after the guard chose to re-sign with the Toronto Raptors earlier this week.
With James, you can never know for sure what exactly he is thinking. The fact that his close friends don’t know either means not even he may know what’s next in store for him, and if that’s the case, it’s time for those suitors to go nuts.
Tweet of the Day: Dallas, Nowitzki Make Statement; LeBron Recruitment Perks Up
Tweet of the Night: Greg Monroe continues to deny reports about wanting to see Josh Smith traded
James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.