Now that Miami Heat forward LeBron James is officially opting out of his contract, every team in the league will try to get their hands on the game’s best player.
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However, according to Rick Telander of The Chicago Sun-Times, only six teams have enough money to offer James a max deal.
"He could always stay with the Heat and try to negotiate with president Pat Riley and Bosh and Wade and somehow decide how the salary cap can be divvied up and the bench weaknesses addressed, and everybody can go after a third title in five years.Or he could collude with New York Knicks free agent Carmelo Anthony, the Bulls’ dream scorer, and establish a new command post.According to sources, there are only six teams that could clear enough space to pay James the maximum he could get as a free agent — $23.8 million a year for four years. The Bulls aren’t one of them.Of course, James doesn’t have to take a max contract. And nobody can pay him as much as the Heat on a new contract, according to league rules."
The teams projected to have the most cap space (all numbers were rounded up or down) are the Dallas Mavericks ($32 million), Utah Jazz ($31 million), Phoenix Suns ($31 million), Philadelphia 76ers ($31 million) and Los Angeles Lakers ($26 million). Of course, the Heat can go above the cap to keep James.
James averaged 27.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 56.7% from the field, 37.9% from three and 75.0% from the charity stripe last season.