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Bobby Marks takes a closer look at the teams that are real contenders to land LeBron James this season.
CLEVELAND – When the free NBA agency officially opens at 12:01 am and Sunday, the Cleveland Cavaliers will not meet in person with LeBron James or his representatives, according to sources at ESPN
James' Camp and the front office of the Cavaliers have maintained a dialogue since the end of the season, sources said. James' agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, informed the Cavs on Friday morning that the MVP four times would not opt for the last year of his contract; Paul, who represents several other players entering free will – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Nerlens Noel among them – will direct all his business by phone when he is free. begins, sources told ESPN
It is not clear at this point whether an in-person meeting between James and the Cavs has been scheduled down the line. Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reported this week that James would not look for complicated launch meetings during the free agency process.
If James had chosen Friday, the Cavaliers' brass would have considered that it was a bad sign, as they believed his greater motivation. doing so would be to accommodate a trade to another team that did not have ceiling space to sign it outright, like the Houston Rockets.
James was in a plane that landed in Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles on Saturday. , a source told ESPN. James flew from the island of Anguilla to the Caribbean and landed at Van Nuys just after 11 pm PT. His reason for being there is unknown: The Lakers are considered a strong candidate to sign James, but he also has an off-season home in Los Angeles
As it stands, the Cavs believe that They are still in the mix to keep James and offer a lot more money – $ 207 million over five years, compared to $ 152 million over four years – than the Lakers 76ers and Philadelphia, the 76ers being the other team considered a very likely suitor
. Cavs thought that James' re-signature is "Plan A, B, and C" from Cleveland when it comes to free agency.
Cleveland is already above the $ 101 million salary limit of the league even without James' contract contracts already on the books. The Cavs' $ 3.4 million qualifying bid to make Rodney Hood a restricted free agent, as reported for the first time by Cleveland.com, would bring the total to 11.
James would the 12th, which means that Cleveland will seek to fill two or three open positions such as they are
Teams may carry a maximum of 15 players. The Cavs will likely keep at least one spot on the list to secure Kendrick Perkins '$ 2.5 million contract in case they find a business partner who will require Perkins' salary to be added to the deal for that maths work.
The Cavs have at their disposal the $ 5.3 million mid-level exception to spend on free agents, which they could offer to a player or attempt to share between two players in order to 39; offer a slight premium over the minimum of the veteran. A league source familiar with the thought of the Cavs told ESPN that the franchise had a hard time planning his team around James with the way he approached his free agency, which could spark the hesitation of free agents or business partners with Cleveland in the meantime
Yet, no matter what pitfalls might come with how James goes about his decision, the Cavs, according to the source, still much hope the re-sign.
Cleveland has a shot The other veterans of the team last year are preparing to be free agents – Jeff Green and Jose Calderon – but neither one nor the other It's considered a "first pass" and should still be on the market after James plans.
Although it seems that the Cavs are in a period of relatively calm free agency outside the pursuit of James, the summer was preceded by a varied activity organized by the General Manager Koby Altman, Hood's trade, Larry Nance Jr., Jordan Clarkson and George Hill in February for designating playmaker Collin Sexton with choice number 8 in June.
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