In case you haven’t heard, LeBron James is going to be a free agent on July 1, unless he decides to opt-in to his $35 million player option for next season.
The majority of NBA teams will wait patiently for James to make his decision, as his next destination will determine what other top free agents do and what teams have cap space to make other major moves. For the few with legitimate chances at James, they will try their best to woo James to join them, although without elaborate presentations as has been requested by LeBron.
The Lakers and Cavs are the frontrunners for James, with the Sixers still expected to make a push. The Spurs are all but out of the running given their situation with Kawhi Leonard and their stuffed cap sheet, but the Rockets, despite a similar logjam on their cap sheet, still plan on making a strong push for James.
Chris Paul figures to spearhead the effort, and truly the only way it makes sense is if a deal happens the way it did with Paul last year, as USA Today’s Sam Amick reports.
As was the case with Paul last summer when he forced his way out with the Clippers, it remains possible that James could opt in to his current deal and force a trade to a team like the Rockets by making it clear that he’ll opt out and leave in free agency if the Cavs don’t comply. And while Houston is considered a longshot to land James, that isn’t about to keep Rockets general manager/newly-named Executive of the Year Daryl Morey from trying.
According to a person with knowledge of their situation, the Rockets are still all in on pursuing James – even if Harden made it clear that it was hardly a necessity. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
The June 29 deadline for James to opt-in means we’d know his decision prior to free agency, which would certainly shift the timeline most teams expect for when other deals will get done. There isn’t another way for LeBron to end up in Houston, as it would be almost impossible to create any sort of significant cap space, even with trades, without gutting the roster down to Harden, Chris Paul’s cap hold, and Clint Capela’s cap hold plus filler (those three occupy $72 million alone).
However, the opt-in and force a trade option is the one way it could happen, and it would require Cleveland to figure out what collection of Rockets players and future picks they would take in return. Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon would make the money work and then throw in some combination of picks, but that still seems highly unlikely.
The interesting thing is the wording of “all in” in pursuing James, when the only way for them to realistically get him is to trade for him before the deadline which means the onus is on Paul and Harden to convince LeBron to join them because it’d be tampering for Daryl Morey or anyone in the front office or ownership to be involved.
