LeBron James’ free agency this summer looms over just about every team in the NBA and has been an inescapable storyline for the better part of a year.
The Cavs have responded to James’ upcoming status as an unrestricted free agent by netting a hopefully high lottery pick from the Nets in trading Kyrie Irving to the Celtics, ostensibly as an insurance policy should James leave. They then made massive moves at the trade deadline to compete now and make LeBron happier with his supporting cast heading into this summer.
The Lakers have not been shy about hinting they would like to bring the King to L.A., while the Sixers have let fellow Klutch Sports member Ben Simmons lead the charge to bring LeBron to Philly. Fans of both teams have ponied up the funds to put up billboards to show LeBron how badly he’s wanted in both places (as have the NZ Breakers in New Zealand), and those gestures have flattered LeBron.
Now, you can add Portland to the list of fan bases that have scraped together the money to put up LeBron billboards in their town (putting it up over the local Kia dealership is a very nice touch).
The Blazers billboards are an effort led by Trillblazin, a fan website that makes some tremendous Portland merchandise, and they aren’t here to have LeBron push their backcourt duo of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum aside. Instead, their plea is for LeBron to come to Portland and be a tertiary option behind that backcourt combo, fading into the latter portion of his career as an experienced veteran role player.
It’s obviously all in good fun, especially considering the Blazers have negative cap space going into next season, but maybe, just maybe, LeBron is a big fan of artisanal coffee shops and would sign for the league minimum.
