NBA Free Agency: Teams eyeing LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony

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Cleveland Cavaliers:

Feb 24, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving (left) looks over at Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (right) as Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Byron Scott (center) looks on during the second half at the American Airlines Arena. MIami won 109-105. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

Like the Hawks, the Cavs aren’t really on anyone’s radar for signing both LeBron AND Melo. While LeBron returning home to Cleveland has “poetic” and “redemption” written all over it, nobody’s really thrown Melo’s name into the ring…until now. According to Stein and Windhorst, the Cavs are in a similar situation as Atlanta in that they’re mulling over their trade options that could make the dream of LeBron returning home even sweeter by adding his good friend Carmelo.

Sources say the Cavs could free up as much as $30 million in cap room this summer without having to trade Kyrie Irving or the No. 1 pick in tomorrow’s draft. In addition to a few future draft picks, the Cavs’ roster is practically built on non-guaranteed contracts that would serve as useful trade chips to free up that cap room.

A core of Irving, LeBron, Melo and either Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker is a small-ball lineup to be reckoned with. New head coach David Blatt would need to work on tightening up a defense that surrendered 101.5 points per game (16th in the league), especially with Melo and a rookie in tow, but adding these two superstars would definitely help with Cleveland’s weak offense (98.2 points per game, 22nd in the NBA). Cavs fans would probably just be happy with LeBron coming home, but provided God stops hating Cleveland for one summer, the Cavs are one of only a handful of teams that could possibly get King James AND Melo.

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