Cavs Free Agency: Irving Extended, LeBron coming home?

Feb 16, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Eastern Conference forward LeBron James (6) of the Miami Heat tries to take the ball away from guard Kyrie Irving (2) of the Cleveland Cavaliers during practice for the 2013 NBA all star game at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /

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THE HAYWARD HITCH

With recent reports that the Cavaliers have been reaching out to Gordon Hayward, there’s a very real scenario that they could mess up their chance to bring James home. If they extend an offer to Hayward, two things immediately hamstring their efforts with James — they lock up the salary and they run the risk of the Jazz not matching.

The Cavs can offer him a contract and under the rules for restricted free agents, the Jazz would have three days to match that offer and retain Gordon’s services. The Cavs would be unable to do anything with that money during that period. If history has taught us anything, teams have a strategic advantage in waiting until the last minute to match those deals.

The nightmare would be having to turn LeBron James away.

The nightmare scenario would be the Cavs extending that offer, then having James knock on their door with the intention of returning. They’d have to…gulp…make him wait, with the potential scenario that the Jazz don’t match. Then, they’d have to turn him away.

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