There’s no doubt that Kevin Durant has been the most discussed free agent during this NBA offseason and rightfully so as the Nets supposed superteam has now completely exploded. Looking ahead to next year though, there could be a lot in store for LeBron James and his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers.
After the next NBA season, not only is LeBron’s contract with the Lakers over, his eldest son will also be eligible for the NBA draft. Most everyone knows that Lebron has made it a point to stay in the league until he can play with his son, but where might they take the court together? Although the Lakers have quite a high payroll, it would make sense if LeBron and Jr. come home to Cleveland.
Cleveland is LeBron’s hometown and on top of that, his son has spent the majority of his young life there watching his father become an NBA legend. There are other factors to consider.
Most notable is the fact that the Cleveland Cavaliers organization has begun clearing massive cap space for the 2023-24 NBA season. LeBron will be a free agent by then and the Cavs are rumored to have enough cap space to add three max contract offers. I’m not sure if the team would offer LeBron a max contract so late in his career, but they may be able to entice LeBron Jr. to Cleveland with a max deal and then sign The King to a one year contract to come home.
Another factor is the fact that Anthony Davis will be turning 30 that year (2023). While AD is a top big man in the league when healthy, it’s also known that he’s fairly injury prone. During the Lakers lackluster season this past year, Davis was sidelined due to injury while his team struggled for a playoff spot. Furthermore, the collection of young talent that the Cleveland Cavaliers have is much better than that of the Los Angeles Lakers. The formula for successful teams helmed by LeBron has always been to surround him with shooters, as he excels at his pinpoint passing and basketball intellect. The Cavs are rife with shooters, whether it be Darius Garland, Caris Levert, or Kevin Love.
Ultimately, the deciding factor will probably come down to where his son chooses to play and the city of Cleveland shouldn’t be excluded from the list of possible destinations.
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