Original title: Isn’t James’s return to the Cavaliers the perfect ending?
Just yesterday, there was a big rumor about LeBron James. According to sources, James may leave the Lakers and return to Cleveland as a free agent next summer, playing for the Cavaliers for the third time in his career. At one time, he was also very likely to end his basketball career in his hometown. It was none other than Brian Wenhorst, who used to be known as James’ “Queen’s Reporter”, and as soon as his report was released, it quickly became a hot search on social media.
In fact, the topic of James returning to the Cavaliers was mentioned by Wenhorst as early as after James led the Lakers to win the championship in 2020. In the past two years, the Lakers’ record has gradually declined. Although the relationship between Zhan Huang and the Zijinjun is not bad, it has become more subtle. Therefore, in the past season, there have been more and more rumors about him returning to his hometown to play. During this period, Kevin Love, a veteran inside the Cavaliers and James’ old teammate, even publicly shouted in front of the media. He said that not only did he want James to return , If James’ son Bronny participates in the draft in the future, he can also join the Cavaliers.
In May of this year, James was photographed partying with Love again. At that party, some attentive reporters also saw the figure of Nate Forbes, the small owner of the Cavaliers.
Of course, this is not over yet. After entering July, the Lakers trade of Westbrook has always been difficult to progress, and there are various signs that James no longer wants to partner with Westbrook, and is pushing Westbrook to leave the team and replace Irving with Westbrook. In the operation of , Huang Zhan is also one of the main forces. One point of view is that if the Lakers cannot strengthen according to James’s wishes, he will give up the idea of renewing the contract in advance. Once James does this, then by the time he becomes a free agent next summer, the Lakers may not have an advantage if they want to keep him.
If more than a year ago, compared with the Lakers, the Cavaliers were not an ideal place for James. After more than a year, the situation has changed dramatically. Last summer, most pundits also believed that the Cavaliers’ rebuild was still years away. However, after the start of last season, the Cavaliers’ combat power has increased rapidly. They once rushed into the top four in the Eastern Conference. It was only because of lack of stamina that they regretted missing out on the playoff tickets.
Specific to the individual on the team, Darius Garland has grown into a leader among young guards. Last season, he successfully made the All-Star team. Evan Mobley’s rookie season also broke out rapidly, becoming the young man with the most output in the 2021 class. In the paint, Jarrett Allen showed the ability of the league’s first-line gate. In addition, Love also recovered his form last season, and even entered the discussion of the best 6th man of the season. It can be said that in terms of lineup quality and potential, today’s Cavaliers have surpassed the Lakers, which is of course very tempting to James.
In addition, in the past few years, under the influence of the epidemic, many industries have been severely impacted, and some NBA teams have also experienced operational difficulties. However, during this period, the Cavaliers owner Gilbert benefited from his mortgage business, and his personal wealth rose against the trend, and once rushed into the top three of the NBA owner’s wealth list.
During James’ first two years with the Cavaliers, due to financial constraints, the Cavaliers’ signings and reinforcements did not fully meet James’s satisfaction. But if the King James can return this time, and if the Cavaliers can regain hope for the championship, Gilbert may have more confidence to spend more money.
Of course, it makes sense emotionally for James to return to the Cavaliers. After all, Cleveland (Akron) is the hometown of the King James. Over the years, even when he is far away, the King James has always made various contributions to his hometown. In 2016, Zhan Huang brought his hometown the first finals trophy of the 4 major sports leagues in 51 years. Since then, no one has resented or blamed him in the city. And if James chooses to return to the Cavaliers for the last stop of his career, he will also receive a more sincere and heartfelt welcome than any other city fans. If Bronny, the son of Emperor James, can also start his NBA career with the Cavaliers, and if the two can play for the same team, this will become an unprecedented story in NBA history.
Finally, as one of the greatest stars in history, James is destined to have a grand retirement tour in the last year of his career. If the Cavaliers can sign James back at that time, they are also expected to make a lot of money at the box office. A good deal, of course, is what the team’s top management hopes to make.
Perhaps, it is precisely because of this idea that the Knights have begun to make arrangements for the return of Emperor Zhan. This summer, they gave Garland an early max contract extension, but declined to renew Sexton’s big contract. In addition, the Cavaliers are also quite conservative when it comes to retaining LeVert. Obviously, the Cavaliers do not want to overdraw the cap space in advance. They are preparing for next summer. Once James really decides to return, they are likely to go all out in the first place… (Poirot)Return to Sohu, see more