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Rumors about LeBron James potentially returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a farewell tour this offseason have been flying around for months. Brian Windhorst of ESPN added fuel to that fire on Wednesday during a radio interview on ESPN Cleveland.
“There is a thought process out there in Los Angeles — and I think if the Cavs were interested in this, the Lakers would sit up at attention right now — that they would sign-and-trade LeBron for Jarrett Allen,” Windhorst said. “And I think if the Cavs were willing to do that, they could have LeBron.
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“Obviously, LeBron would have to want to sign with the Cavs. But your pathway to pay LeBron the money is to trade Jarrett Allen for him. The Lakers would kill for Jarrett Allen. Kill for him! They would do that deal in 17 tenths of a second.”
Even if the Cavaliers were willing to send Allen to the Lakers for LeBron in a sign-and-trade, they’d have other obstacles to overcome. But as Windhorst said, that would be their cleanest path to add LeBron this offseason unless he’s willing to sign a veteran-minimum contract with them.
How realistic is a LeBron/Allen S&T?
If the Cavaliers were to acquire LeBron via a sign-and-trade, that would hard-cap them at the first apron for the entire 2026-27 league year.
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Current projections have the first apron landing at roughly $209 million. The Cavs are currently projected to have more than $222 million in salary on their books for next season, although that figure includes James Harden’s $42.3 million player option. Harden is widely expected to decline that option and sign a multiyear deal at a lower annual salary to help the Cavs duck below the second apron.
Allen is set to earn $28 million flat this coming season. Unless LeBron agreed to take significantly less than that, he wouldn’t help bring much financial relief to the Cavs. They’d likely have to look at salary-dumping Max Strus ($16.7 million), Dennis Schröder ($14.8 million) and/or Sam Merrill ($9.2 million) to give themselves enough flexibility under the first apron to round out their roster after acquiring LeBron.
If the Cavaliers…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/realistic-lebron-james-jarrett-allen-194137259.html
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Publish date : 2026-06-25 19:41:00
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