The last time LeBron James hit free agency, he’d failed again to win the championship the previous season, having been outplayed by a group of savvy and well-drilled veterans.
The last time LeBron James hit free agency, the league was sent into a frenzy, with the King ultimately choosing to leave his beloved Cleveland Cavaliers.
The last time LeBron James hit free agency, arguably the most famous betrayal in sporting history ensued.
See any similarities between then and now?
While the other 29 teams in the league will no doubt be trying to get ahold of LeBron’s management team to sell their case, some more seriously than others, they all will likely be disappointed, as LeBron James will re-sign with the Miami Heat.
While there are many similarities between LeBron’s 2010 and 2014 situations, there are some gargantuan differences in determining whether or not he will re-sign, the most important of which (as determined by James himself) is championships.
In terms of the ‘ships, no team offers him a greater shot at the title than Miami. With LeBron now able to work out a new deal, Miami have space to add new talent to help them reach the NBA summit again. It has been reported that interested free agents include Kyle Lowry and even Carmelo Anthony, who similarly opted out of his contract this off-season.
Miami’s core have the playoff and finals experience necessary to make another three or four runs at the title, and ultimately, it’d be easiest for James to stay in South Beach and continue to build a legacy. It is very unlikely another team will come along and offer King James a better situation than Miami offers him now.
Many think LeBron opting out of his contract is the writing on the wall for Miami, as it was with Cleveland; he clearly does not want to be a part of the team anymore. However, it says something entirely different.
As mentioned earlier, ever since the King took his talents to South Beach, Miami has been target no. 1 for high-profile free agents. And if you have been sifting through the NBA rumour mill of late, you will have seen Anthony has said he will take a “sizeable pay cut” to be there. By opting out of his current contract, it seems LeBron is keen to do the same.
By James (and possibly Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade) opting out, he allows Miami to re-sign him on a smaller-scale contract that could fit Anthony and others inside the salary cap.
LeBron James is a winner. While he hasn’t always been a winner on the court, he knows when he’s a beaten man, and he knows that now, and is willing to take on some more help at a relatively small pice.
Considering the kind of help on offer this off-season, he is making a smart decision.
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