In a move that should really stun no one, LeBron James opted out of his Cleveland Cavaliers contract
LeBron James just completed maybe the most impressive feat of his illustrious career, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. But now that the amazing season for James and the Cavaliers is over, it’s time for the King to concentrate on free agency.
The first part of that has officially begun, as LeBron’s agent Rich Paul has made it known that he will not be exercising his player option with the team for the upcoming season, making him an unrestricted free agent.
LeBron James will not exercise his player option with the Cavs for next season, according to agent Rich Paul. Deadline was Wed @ midnight
— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) June 29, 2016
Of course, with this news, people are going to start freaking out and they’re going to start freaking out irrationally at times with the notion that LeBron, now that he has won Cleveland the title that he promised, will bolt once again. While that possibility is technically on the table, we knew that this would be the case every year for LeBron when he re-signed with the Cavaliers two years ago. He opts out every year, gets a new deal as the cap increases and everyone is happy.
James did state shortly after winning the title that he does intend to return to Cleveland, so now it’s only a matter of seeing how long it takes the two sides to get a new deal in place after July 1. Paul did not give a timetable for that, but in the end Dan Gilbert and the Cavaliers will give one of the greatest of all-time what he wants.
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