Report: LeBron James Not Helping Cleveland Cavaliers Recruit Free Agents This Year

Free agency officially kicked off July 1 and teams are going into a frenzy trying to attract talent— in preparation for next season. Star players are known to talk to their peers about joining forces, but this time Cleveland Cavaliers leader LeBron James may be keeping out of the conversations.

During the NBA offseason, teams look to bolster their rosters. Everyone wants to step their game up to take down championship super team the Golden State Warriors, who went 15-1 during the NBA playoffs. James reportedly doesn’t want to take part in making his team better. League sources told ESPN Saturday that James isn’t keen on recruiting free agents for the Cavaliers this summer.

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James’ unwillingness to get involved in free agent recruitment is a stark contrast to years prior— he had persuaded multiple players to join him in the past. He met with Kevin Love in Los Angeles in 2015 and got the Cavaliers' big man to re-sign with the team. James has also contacted veteran players like Mike Miller and James Jones to join up with him.

James supported the Cavaliers when they decided to seek talent with a midseason free-agent minicamp last February. He welcomed free-agent forward Lance Stephenson and guards, Kirk Hinrich, Mario Chalmers and Jordan Farmar during the workouts.

"I got a history with all those guys except Jordan," James told ESPN regarding the prospective players during the minicamp. "I got a history with Lance too, obviously. I got a history versus Kirk. I played him in a lot of playoff series. And I got a history with Rio [Chalmers]. At the end of the day, Rio is recovering from his Achilles tear. I hope he's been doing everything he needs to do just to get back on the floor. He loves to play the game."

He added, "I’m a supporter of what this franchise wants to do, no matter what it's doing. But my focus right now is to get our guys playing championship-level basketball."

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"There's a brotherhood that we've built," James said when asked if he spoke to Chalmers during his rehab. "I stayed in touch with pretty much everybody I played with in Miami."

Though James won't be wrangling talent like in the past, the Cavaliers have been trying to make moves to fill multiple positions, including an empty general manager spot. The have reportedly been pursuing ESPN analyst and former point guard Chauncey Billups for the GM role but have yet to reach an agreement.

As per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski Saturday, the Cavaliers are reportedly looking to deal guard Iman Shumpert to the Houston Rockets to re-sign sharp shooter, Kyle Korver. Shumpert hasn’t played well and struggled to shoot the ball. However, what he lacked on offense, he made up for with scrappy defense—but its possible he’ll be dealt soon. The team reportedly reached an agreement with point guard Jose Calderon Saturday. Sources told ESPN that Calderon is expected to ink a one-year veterans minimum contract worth $2.3 million.