Apparently LeBron James just isn’t worth waiting on. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, teams are “moving on” from dreams of landing James because they haven’t been able to contact him.
24 hours into free agency, LeBron James has been quiet. Teams hoping to engage have been mostly unable. No doors closed but teams moving on
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) July 2, 2014
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This news is further confirmation of what’s been assumed for weeks – that James will ultimately re-sign with the Miami Heat. LeBron’s choice to stay mum at free agency’s opening is a stark contrast to his approach in 2010, when meetings between he and an aggressive band of suitors created a media frenzy that culminated with “The Decision.”
But James is in a different place now and has learned from past mistakes. Plus, there’s little reason for talk if he has every intention of staying with Miami. Though he hasn’t publicly expressed a desire to re-up with the Heat, that James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh opted-out of their contracts for next season is an indication that Miami’s Big Three have hopes of staying in South Beach with a re-built roster surrounding them. Indeed, a report from earlier today that Pat Riley is telling free agents the Heat have $12 million to spend this summer supports that theory.
Still, teams should tread carefully when it comes to James. The chance, no matter how unlikely, to acquire a player of such historic caliber is a unique event, and the Heat’s stranglehold on LeBron could go from tenable to the opposite if Wade and Bosh have a sudden change of heart and are unwilling to take pay-cuts.
Hopeful suitors of LeBron should certainly be realistic about their chances of stealing him from Miami, but opportunistic, too. As we learn every summer, free agency rarely goes the way we think it will.
Will LeBron re-sign with the Heat?
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