With the whole basketball sports world waiting on a decision from LeBron James, one of the first pieces of this NBA offseason has come to fruition.
According to sources, LeBron will not opt into the final year of his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers and will become an unrestricted free agent. He has already informed the Cavs organization of his decision.
This move rules out the Houston Rockets as a player in free agency, considering they needed a sign-and-trade to make the deal happen.
The Los Angeles Lakers still remain one of the favorite to land his services.
Cleveland still has a chance to sign him, with the option of giving him a five-year super max deal worth around $207 million. Any other team can only give him a 4-year deal at around the $152 million dollar mark.
At this point, it’s anyone’s guess where he will go. But the whole world is tuning in.
LeBron James’ agent informed the Cavs he will not exercise his $35.6 million option and thus will become an unrestricted free agent, sources told @clevelanddotcom … Story coming
— Joe Vardon (@joevardon) June 29, 2018
LeBron James has informed the Cavs he won’t opt into his contract. This decision is favorable to the Lakers chances, hurts the Rockets chances and the Cavs remain firmly in mix.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) June 29, 2018
James’s decision to opt out makes a potential trade with the Rockets less likely. It helps the Lakers, who would like to use their existing assets to make a Kawhi Leonard trade, and use their cap space to make James a max contract offer.
— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) June 29, 2018