The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
LeBron waits to see Cavs’ draft plans
The NBA draft is June 21, and the Cavaliers still do not know whether LeBron James is staying or leaving.
The NBA draft is June 21, and the Cavaliers still do not know whether LeBron James is staying or leaving.
If James does not exercise his player option of $35.6 million on his contract next season by June 29, he becomes an unrestricted free agent July 1. He would be able to re-sign with the Cavs if he hits free agency.
King James could be sitting back on his high throne waiting for Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman to make the first move — waiting to see what Altman does to close the gap on the Warriors before deciding whether his best option for winning a championship is staying with the Cavaliers or joining forces with other stars to form a superior team in another city.
The Cavaliers hold the eighth pick in the draft via the Nets as the key acquisition for trading Kyrie Irving to the Celtics last August.
The Cavs are forbidden by league rules from trading the pick — technically, anyway — because they already traded their own first-round pick. But they can work a deal with Team X before the draft to select Player Y and then immediately trade Player Y’s rights to Team X for an established player.
According to a report in Cleveland.com, the Cavs have been in contact with the Spurs about trading for Kawhi Leonard.
Leonard played in only nine games with the Spurs in 2017-18 because of a lingering quadriceps injury and a simmering feud with San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich.
Rumors linking Kemba Walker of the Hornets were a topic of conversation during the NBA playoffs this year. Leonard and Walker can both become free agents next summer.
Trading the eighth pick to rent an established player for one year to pacify James is a risk. James could still opt out of his contract, or he could stay for just next season and then he and the player acquired for the pick would leave.
Trading forward Kevin Love is another possibility, but such a player-forplayer trade would be tricky because Love has a player option for $25.6 million in 2019-20. He is due $24.1 million in $201819. Another team might be reluctant to trade a draft pick for him for the same reason Altman wouldn’t want to trade the eighth pick for a player who could be a free agent next summer.
Drafting a player James approves of — he had better have a high basketball I.Q., because that’s all James talked about after the Cavs lost Game 1 of the Finals — might entice LeBron to stay with the Cavaliers. By most accounts, Alabama point guard Collin Sexton fits the description. Plus, Sexton is a tenacious defender, which is something the Cavaliers desperately need.
James has played 15 years in the NBA, and this would be only the second time the team he is playing for would be using a lottery pick to draft a player. The other was Luke Jackson, drafted 10th overall by the Cavaliers in 2004. Jackson played in 46 games with the Cavaliers over two seasons without a start. Making contracts fit into the jigsaw puzzle of the salary cap is the biggest challenge for Altman. According to analyst Bobby Marks of ESPN, the Cavaliers’ payroll next season, if James returns, would be a minimum of $145 million. Team owner Dan Gilbert would be hit with a luxury tax bill of $74.5 million.
The upshot of it is, there is no easy way for the Cavaliers to catch Golden State. That is why James is taking his time to see what Altman does next.