Before LeBron James took his talent to South Beach, and long before he joined the Los Angeles Lakers, he was turning the Cleveland Cavaliers into a championship contender. James spent the first seven seasons of his now-21-year career in his home state before returning to win the 2016 NBA Finals.
But now the 39-year-old is ready to choose his own path again, with the option to become a free agent this summer. Technically, James has a $51.4 million player option, but his own agent has already openly referred to James as a free agent, so it’s time to open up the bidding process.
While it’s hard to picture James leaving the Lakers, if there’s one other team that makes a lot of sense, it’s returning home to play in front of the Akron native’s home fans in Cleveland.
The favorites to sign James remain the Lakers, where DraftKings gives Los Angeles -425 odds to re-sign. But after the Lakers, the team with the next-best odds to sign LeBron is the Cavaliers, who are given +750 odds to sign the future Hall of Famer.
Los Angeles is on the verge of hiring Dan Hurley, but the Cavaliers have yet to make a decision on their next head coach after moving on from J.B. Bickerstaff. If Redick’s not going to LA, perhaps he reconvenes with James in Cleveland instead.
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