Miami Heat teammates think LeBron James will stay

LeBron James has the option to leave the Miami Heat this summer, and with Cleveland Cavaliers winning the draft lottery yet again many have been discussing the hypothetical scenario of James returning to his former team. James himself has refused to talk about his future with media, but according to Ethan Skolnick of Bleacher Report, his teammates are quietly expecting LeBron to stay put:

"Mostly, though, I’ll be surprised because some of those closest to him will be surprised. That includes his teammates, those with whom he’s spent most of his time for the past eight months, those with whom he tends to communicate most freely. They haven’t wanted to touch this topic on the record, at least not honestly and completely, but some have privately pooh-poohed—even eye-rolled—the “leaving” chatter for months. They continued to do so even after Cleveland won the lottery on Tuesday.(via Bleacher Report)"

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If the Miami Heat win their third straight NBA title this season there is probably no chance that he would leave the team this summer. Even if Miami were to come up short, James could simply opt into one more year with the Heat and leave in the summer of 2015, if he so pleases.

There aren’t many better situations for James around the league, only a few teams with potential and a whole lot of uncertainty. Even if Cleveland add a very talented player in the draft, the team is still full of a bunch of guys with no postseason experience, and LeBron is at a stage in his career where he wants to be on a top-tier title contending team every single year.