NBA Rumors: Top Options if LeBron James Leaves Cleveland

According to Stephen A. Smith, LeBron James may leave the Cleveland Cavaliers again. If he does, where might he end up?

The 2015-16 NBA regular season hasn’t exactly gone according to plan for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite owning the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, Cleveland has routinely struggled against the Top 2 teams in the Association, thus calling their legitimacy as a contender into question.

Cue the NBA rumor mill spewing theories about LeBron James’ alleged desire to leave Cleveland again.

James has a $24 million player option for the 2016-17 season, but few expect him to accept it. The rising salary cap will enable James to sign a contract in the neighborhood of $30 million per season, which could make The King the highest paid player in NBA history.

With free agency looming, Stephen A. Smith told Jorge Sedano and Israel Gutierrez of ESPN Radio that James may leave the Cavaliers for another team (h/t Ty Duffy of The Big Lead).

"What everybody who’s close to him continuously reminds me of is: ‘don’t you dare take LeBron for granted or think he’s trapped into staying in Cleveland just because he came back. Don’t put it past him that he’ll get so annoyed that he’ll leave again if he feels like he’s being taken for granted, ran into the ground, and, essentially, misused."

It’s hard to imagine James leaving Cleveland, but it’s an intriguing possibility.

James certainly didn’t do himself any favors by leaving the Cavaliers the first time. If he’s able to lead Cleveland to its first ever NBA championship, thus coming through on his promise, it’s hard to believe that James would close off his other options.

Many would inevitably be outraged by his departure, but it’s more of an improbability than an impossibility.

James is a four-time MVP and a two-time NBA champion with a pair of Finals MVP awards to his name. He’s already a Hall of Fame lock at 31 years old, and remains one of the Association’s most dominant players during something of a down season.

The question is, which team will James spend the next phase of his career with if not the Cavaliers?

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