By now we've all heard the rumors and have seen the numerous possibilities surrounding LeBron James in free agency.
Most Clevelanders were resolved to the idea that James would re-sign with the Miami Heat, or maybe move on to another large market like the Los Angeles Lakers. Cleveland was widely considered an afterthought, the team that had managed to get lucky in the NBA lottery 3 times in 4 years, but with no realistic shot at landing the former Cavalier.
Then whispers started to pop up that James was considering returning. People claimed to have knowledge that he was coming back. Then his wife posted a picture on Instagram that they were coming home. Suddenly people started reading into every little thing that went on with James.
Then Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade opted out of their contracts with the Heat. It was widely thought that the three of them were going to take less money to allow Pat Riley to reconstruct the roster. It was whispered that the Heat were going to try and convince Carmelo Anthony to come to South Beach.
That was followed by reports that James was going to ask for a max-contract. Suddenly the entire focus of his free agency shift. There was no way the Heat could sign him to a max contract, plus re-sign Wade and Bosh, then add more talent to the team. The Heat went from front-runners to being done in the blink of an eye.
Suddenly more rumors popped up that James was coming back to Cleveland. Personal trainers, cupcake shops, and the guy down the street claimed to have inside information that James had already agreed to come back to the Cavs, that it was just a matter of announcing it.
Twitter began to buzz with more and more excitement locally as fans came pouring out of the woodwork with reasons why James was coming back. Local radio stations jumped all over the buzz, declaring they knew it was going to happen. It managed to overshadow Josh Gordon getting pulled over in North Carolina for DWI, which is amazing since Cleveland Browns news always seems to trump any other story.
This past weekend, a plane registered to Dan Gilbert landed in south Florida and Twitter erupted. It was the sign the optimists were all waiting for. Dan Gilbert or a representative was on board, ready to grab James and hash out the details of a comeback.
Except it wasn't like that.
Clamoring calmed down briefly, but picked back up this past Monday. It was reported that James's agent Rich Paul was pushing to get James back here (ulterior motives have been suggested), that many in James's inner circle wanted him to go back to the Cavs. It reached a fever pitch on a local radio station, almost euphoric, which is odd given that James still as of this post yet to meet with Riley over the direction of the Heat.
Today, Tuesday, he was supposedly going to meet with Riley. Yet he didn't. His meeting was with Nike, which began a whole new round of conspiracy theories. The Heat meeting was supposedly confirmed by a number of media members, yet they were all wrong since the meeting is now supposedly Wednesday.
It perfectly describes the problem with reporting these days. Reporters, bloggers, and average Joe all want to be first on a story, so fact-checking becomes compromised and instead we get a constant supply of "facts" from "sources" that turn out to be bogus. Social media has made this worse because information is so readily available, you have to be very fast to get a report out first. Often, the information is flawed, if not completely bogus.
What does this all mean for Heat fans and Cavs fans? Well, it means we know just as much now as we did when the final horn sounded in game five of the NBA Finals in San Antonio.
Nothing.
He could go back to the Heat if Riley sells him on the future direction of the team. He could be convinced that a few decent moves could ensure a long run at title contention. Riley has not let James down to this point, and that could be very favorable to the Heat.
He could make a remarkable return to the Cavs. The city would erupt, and national media members will spend weeks trying to figure out just what happened that caused this change of heart on both sides. James and Kyrie Irving could form a dynamic duo with Andrew Wiggins as the understudy.
The thing that causes me dismay is seeing how high on the Cavs side people are getting at the possibility of James returning, along with the panic in Miami. Sure, it's fun to see another fanbase go through what Cavs fans dealt with 4 years ago, but that doesn't make it right. It's also caused mini-spats between radio stations in both markets. Miami stations can't believe Cleveland stations believe he's coming back and Cleveland stations are laughing at the panic in Miami.
Another ugly side-effect is the return of insults towards Cleveland. It's suddenly become cool again to pick on the city as a terrible place to live/visit, and that's really a shame. I know it's not South Beach, but Cleveland isn't nearly as awful as some try to paint it to be, and frankly resorting to "who wants to go to Cleveland" jokes makes you look pathetic in any capacity.
Where do I stand on the James free agency situation? I find it hard to believe he'll come back. Sure, I'd stand up and celebrate his play on the court as a fan, but until I see him sitting in a press conference with the Cavs hat back on his head, I refuse to give into the hype and speculation that's running rampant. I don't necessarily believe that Miami is a better situation (please spare me the veteran players argument; it means little in the scheme of things), but it's been stable and Riley has made efforts to keep a decent level of talent around their big three.
The part that may play the biggest role is what Chris Bosh does. Houston has offered Bosh a max contract offer and reports (I know, rumors) are swirling that's he considering it, but he hasn't accepted or declined it as of this moment and that could be a big sticking point. If Bosh bails, it could persuade James to go all in with the Cavs. Or it could free up the necessary space to go back to Miami.
No one really knows and that's supposed to be the beauty of free agency.
My worry is that so many Cavs fans are going to buy into him coming back, believe that he's going to sign with the Cavs, that when he doesn't, they're going to crash and burn and it's going to be ugly. There will be people yelling on social media about how dare he do this to us again (even though he's much more low-key this time around), people claiming the world is ending as we know it, and people giving up their fan badge.
I just hate to think that there's going to be a big fallout from this story just because so many *want* to believe that he's returning to the team that drafted him. There will be cries of doom and gloom if he goes back to Miami, and that's simply misguided.
This Cavalier team is already better than the one we watched last year. Sure, Spencer Hawes would've been nice to retain, but it feels that stability has been achieved in the front office, a reasonably good coach has been hired, and Andrew Wiggins could certainly be a star in this league if things bounce the right way.
Is there concern with the team? Yes. There's no shot-blocking, unless Tristan Thompson suddenly becomes a voracious defender who protects the rim, and overall front court size is underwhelming. Anthony Bennett is still a big question mark after his disastrous rookie season, but all reports indicate that he's working hard to be in better shape. If he bounces back, it helps.
Oh, and Irving did sign that 5 year extension, so there's that.
Not to mention Dion Waitors, the continued growth of Delly, Tyler Zeller continuing to improve, and so on. The team by all accounts should improve next season, especially if David Blatt is half the coach we've been led to believe his going to be. The team is intent on making more moves regardless of what James does as well, continuing to eye certain free agents.
The point continues to be don't get caught up in all the rumors swirling about. It's fashionable to put out false rumors to get things churning and that's exactly what appears to be happening right now. And right now, the pressure is on Riley and the Heat to keep James, not the Cavs.
So breath Cavs fans. Enjoy the speculation, but don't get caught up in what others say is going to happen unless it comes from a legitimate source. It's going to be an interesting summer.
We shouldn't be counting on one person to make it memorable.
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