Dan Gilbert had to ask LeBron James the big question, and he may not have liked the answer he got.
The best basketball player on the face of the planet is an impending free agent this summer. Every team that can afford his services are making their plans to try and persuade James to join their team next season. Luckily for the Cavaliers they have first dibs on James.
The Cavaliers traded for Isaiah Thomas, and also acquired the Brooklyn Nets pick in that trade which right now is projected to be in the seventh pick. That pick could land them somebody useful at the trade deadline this season in an attempt to win a second title in four years. But whether or not they trade that pick or hold on to it mostly depends on if James returns to the Cavs this summer.
Cavs GM Dan Gilbert asked James this offseason after the Kyrie Irving trade if he was committed to the Cavaliers past this season, and James would not commit to staying with the team.
Report: LeBron wouldn't commit to the Cavs beyond the 2017-18 season when Dan Gilbert asked him https://t.co/Pd0kwYceIr
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) January 3, 2018
It’s no secret that Gilbert and James aren’t the best of friends, and Gilbert has let James down on more than one occasion. Gilbert had some choice words to say when James left to take his talents to South Beach, and failed to supply James with “playmakers” last season. The Cavaliers are paying the second highest luxury tax in the NBA, and that’s thanks in large part to their cap space mismanagement.
James has done the job he set out to do when he drafted first overall back in 2003. He brought Cleveland a championship, and now he doesn’t really owe this team anything. James is a point in his career where he’s accomplished just about everything, and there’s nothing much left but his legacy. He’s made the Finals in seven straight season, and it’ll probably be an eighth this year.
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If James decides to leave it this offseason then it really shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. The Lakers and Rockets have been named as possible destinations for him. We are now one step closer to getting the banana boat crew together.