The Cleveland Cavaliers are one loss away from staring at a number of question marks about the future, and one of those questions reportedly involves a King.
“Making it to the conference finals was a breakthrough for this organization and worth celebrating, but the players’ energy and effort since they got here leave plenty to be desired,” Jason Lloyd of The Athletic reported Sunday.
“An important offseason awaits, with contract decisions to make on Mitchell and Harden and the inevitable debate on whether to pursue Giannis Antetokounmpo. LeBron James looms over all of this, too.”
James will always be associated with the Cavaliers. After all, they were the team that drafted him No. 1 overall in 2003. He played his first seven seasons with the organization and then returned after four years with the Miami Heat.
His return included the 2016 NBA Finals triumph when Cleveland overcame a 3-1 deficit against the Golden State Warriors.
With the 41-year-old facing free agency this offseason, joining the Cavaliers for the final season or two of his career would be a fitting homecoming. He could also offer veteran leadership, which could improve the “energy and effort” on display during the Eastern Conference Finals that Lloyd criticized.
He might even be thinking that himself:
Yet James is also at a different stage of his career than when he lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy in Cleveland. Antetokounmpo is closer to his own peak and could help the Cavaliers take the next step and challenge for the trophy, although they would also have to give something up in return in a trade.
With James and free agency, it would just be a matter of money.
But Mitchell and Harden are also question marks, which ESPN’s Brian Windhorst explored earlier this month. Mitchell is eligible for a new contract this summer that can add four years and up to $272 million, but Windhorst suggested the guard will likely want to wait until 2027 when he can sign a new deal for five years and approximately $350 million.
“But that path would lead to Mitchell becoming an unrestricted free agent, a cloud that would hang over the Cavs next season,” Windhorst wrote.
As for Harden, he has a $42.3 million player option for next season but could be looking at a new deal himself.
“Though a formal agreement is not allowed to be completed before the offseason, there is an understanding that the Cavs plan to work out a new deal to retain Harden,” Windhorst reported. “… No matter how this playoff run unfolds, Harden, who has been inconsistent in the postseason again, will likely be coming back to Cleveland this summer on a multiyear deal.”
For now, the Cavaliers will focus on attempting to overcome a 3-0 deficit against the New York Knicks. But the question marks and James will “loom” over the series while they do.
