LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have been intertwined since the moment the Akron native was drafted first overall in 2003.
He delivered the city its first NBA championship in 2016 and remains the franchise’s most iconic player.
Now, with his time in Los Angeles looking uncertain, talk of a third run in Cleveland has got Stephen A. Smith fired up.
“Getting specifically to LeBron…Why don’t you just come back to Cleveland and end your career?” Smith said on ESPN’s First Take. “This cannot be disputed, he’d have a better chance of winning the championship in Cleveland than he would in L.A…You come back to Cleveland. You bring the chip back to Cleveland, and you say goodbye as a five-time champion…If LeBron was back in Cleveland, Cleveland is the favorite.”
“He’d have a better chance to winning the championship in Cleveland than he would in L.A.”@stephenasmith feels LeBron should end his career in Cleveland 👀 pic.twitter.com/bUmtsDNJmI
— First Take (@FirstTake) August 8, 2025
If the Cavaliers were able to keep Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell while adding LeBron, they’d instantly become one of the league’s most dangerous teams.
But the financial reality is far less straightforward. Cleveland is currently a second-apron luxury tax team, which means they can’t combine contracts in trades. Any deal for James would have to be a one-for-one, an impossible scenario with their current roster. Even a buyout wouldn’t work under the current CBA, which prevents second-apron teams from signing players whose previous salary exceeded the mid-level exception.
The most realistic path to a reunion would be in the summer of 2026, when LeBron becomes a free agent. Until then, the Cavs could still look to make smaller moves to strengthen the roster.
Someone a bit more attainable and a good target for the Cavs would be the lesser known Curry, Seth, one NBA reporter says.
“If there’s one move the Cavaliers can make to complete their roster and raise their floor in the playoffs, it’s signing Seth Curry,” Rohan Brahmbhatt of C/P suggested. “…For a team like Cleveland, which sometimes stagnates offensively in half-court playoff settings, especially when Mitchell or Garland is trapped, Curry provides crucial off-ball gravity his mere presence on the wing stretches the floor, opens driving lanes, and gives defenses second thoughts.”
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