LeBron James is approaching free agency a lot sooner than Cleveland Cavaliers' fans were hoping. After the forward announced he would be returning to Cleveland, it came out that he only signed a two-year contract with the second year being a player option. That was not exactly the contract fans were hoping James would agree to, but if the Cavaliers fail to make moves then he can easily opt out. However, after a trade for Kevin Love is finalized, it appears everyone plans on staying put for a while.
James has a short-term deal worth $42 million. If he wanted to, he could become a free agent next summer. However, James is denying that he will be leaving Cleveland in the near future, noting that free agency is not in his future as his main goal remains to win a championship for his hometown.
"My No. 1 goal is to win a championship here; it'd be the greatest achievement in my life," James said, via ESPN.com. "I don't plan on going nowhere. I don't have the energy to do it again. At the end of the day, I'm a businessman as well. I know what is going on in the league."
The Cavaliers are making strides to give James a championship-contending roster that he will be happy with. They have agreed to terms regarding a trade for Love that will be finalized once Andrew Wiggins is available for dealing. Once on the roster, the question becomes whether Love will re-sign or not. Yahoo! Sports reported that the original terms of the trade were that Love would agree to re-sign with Cleveland when he becomes a free agent next summer.
That deal is not legally binding for Love. Per NBA rules, the Cavaliers cannot force the forward to make that call. However, according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Love will dictate his free agency status off James. Originally, the forward did not want to sign a deal that would jeopardize his chances at testing the market in 2015, but if James agrees to stick around for the long-term then James will as well.
So for now it appears that James and Love are set to be teammates for many years to come along with Kyrie Irving who also signed a max contract extension this offseason. According to the Plain Dealer, the Cavaliers also plan on keeping both Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson around for a while as well. Both players have heard their names tossed around in several rumors over the past year, but Cleveland and James specifically like the talented youth and plan to keep the roster intact for a while.
"I love Kyrie [Irving]'s game; I think he can be one of the best point guards in our league," James said. "I love the chip on Dion [Waiters]' shoulder. Everyone else sees it as a negative, but I look at it as a positive and I look forward to getting with him. I love how active Tristan [Thompson] is. You give me nine Andy [Varejaos] and I'll be the 10th guy ... I understand it's going to be a process. I'm going to have to teach and lead and inspire those guys."
