LeBron James Prompts Cavaliers Return Rumors After Surprise Visit
By Cem Yolbulan
As the Cleveland Cavaliers dropped a second-straight home game to the Boston Celtics to fall 3-1 behind in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, LeBron James gave the Cavs fans something to be excited about.
LeBron James sat courtside during Game 4 with his wife, taking in the love and appreciation of the fans in the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The Cavs were missing two All-Stars in the game with the injuries to Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen, but LeBron's presence gave them something bigger than a win against Boston would have given: hopes of his return to Cleveland.
Jason Lloyd of The Athletic suggests that this could signal James' third stint with the Cavs. In 2014, James similarly went to Cleveland to attend Zydrunas Ilgauskas' jersey retirement ceremony before signing with the Cavs in the summer. According to observers, Monday night was reminiscent of that.
Cavs Rumors: LeBron James Potentially Returning to Cleveland?
On a night the Cavs’ current star couldn’t play because of injury, their old one sat courtside and blew kisses to the crowd.
— Jason Lloyd (@ByJasonLloyd) May 14, 2024
We saw this once before and it ended with LeBron returning. Could it happen again? Welcome back to the Summer of LeBron, part 3. https://t.co/wZqL5G4wAs
LeBron James will most likely be a free agent this summer. He is expected to opt out of his contract to sign a longer-term deal. Whether that will be with the Lakers or somewhere else remains to be seen. ESPN's Brian Windhorst who has been very close with James throughout his career, is buying into the hype.
"The first thing I thought of was this moment 10 years ago when LeBron showed up to a game in Cleveland while he was a player for the Miami Heat to honor Zydrunas Ilgauskas’ Jersey retirement, his longtime teammate... And a few months later he signed with the Cavs…he's extremely strategic and I wish I could tell you I knew exactly what he is doing. I don't pretend to know, but he's gotta be up to something."
- Brian Windhorst
The Cavs don't have the cap space this summer to give LeBron the contract he desires. But, any team LeBron is willing to sign with will make it happen, either by a sign-and-trade or trading away a few players to open up cap space.
As Windhorst points out, James is a strategic decision-maker. If he thinks going back to Cleveland is the best move for his legacy and gives him the best chance to compete for a title, he will not hesitate signing with the Cavs.
Stay tuned for another summer of drama surrounding LeBron James and Cleveland.
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