Cavaliers Hold Positive Talks With LeBron As Potential Free Agency Looms

The Cleveland Cavaliers are doing their best to retain the services of LeBron James, who has the option to decline the player option available to him and become an unrestricted free agent this off-season.

The Cavaliers small forward’s potential free agency has been one of the most discussed topics in the last few months with a number of teams keen to snap him up if he becomes available.

There were seven teams including the Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets that were linked with moves for James, but recent reports suggest that the Los Angeles Lakers are leading the chase for the forward, who is arguably one of the greatest ever to play the game.

The 33-year-old led the Cavaliers to their fourth straight final in 2018 and his eighth, but they went down in four games to the Warriors, who defended their title to make it three in four years. He averaged 34.0 points, 9.1 rebounds and 9.0 assists while playing 41.9 minutes per game in the post-season.

The Cavaliers are desperate to hold on to their star player and despite there being a week before he makes his decision, the Cleveland franchise have begun talks with this management team. The team’s general manager Koby Altman revealed that they had held positive talks with James’ management team.

The Cavaliers GM made it clear that they are respecting James’ space as he goes through the process of making the decision, while reiterating the high regard with which the four-time MVP is held by the franchise and by the city of Cleveland.

"We continue to have good dialogue with his management team," Altman said Thursday after the Cavs drafted Alabama point guard Collin Sexton with the No. 8 pick, as quoted by ESPN. "I think LeBron has more than earned the right to approach his contracts the way he does. He's done that before, so this is nothing new for us.”

"We want to respect his space during this process, and I continue to have really good dialogue with his management team as he goes through that process. That's probably all I can say at this point regarding him, but we don't take him for granted. We love him, this city loves him. He means the world to us and this franchise,” the Cavaliers general manager added.

It is widely believed that James will decline the player option and become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, after which he can officially start talking to interested suitors. However, he cannot sign a contract until 12 p.m. EDT on July 6 until the July moratorium comes to an end.