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6 hours ago
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The Cleveland Cavaliers don't have the easiest path to trading for LeBron James, but it's possible.
Because James' 2025-26 salary of $52.6 million is higher than anyone on the Cavs, and because the Cavs are over the punishing second apron of the salary cap, there are very few ways to make a deal work.
Bleacher Report explained it well in their prediction of a LeBron to Cleveland trade:
"Since James makes more than any other Cavs player ($52.6 million), the Cavaliers cannot aggregate contracts since they are over the second apron. The only way for Cleveland to trade for James would be to send out enough salary to match his contract and get under the second apron, a line they are currently $18.7 million above.
"NBA salary cap analyst Yossi Gozlan outlined what a potential trade for James would look like, one that had Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and De'Andre Hunter all going out. A third team would need to be involved to take on salary as well."
The Cavs would have less depth if they made a deal like this, but they'd also have LeBron.
Is that worth it?
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The last time James came home to Cleveland, he helped the Cavaliers win the NBA title.
If that happened again, of course it'd be worth it.
But at 40 years old, James only has so much NBA future left, and his physical abilities have to start declining at least a bit.
If Cleveland made this move and then couldn't get over the hump in the playoffs anyway, it'd be a tough pill to swallow.
For this to happen, James would have to request a trade from the Lakers, anyway.
Right now, he hasn't done that, and so this is all just a fun outcome to imagine. If it becomes real, expect Cleveland to think intensely before hopping in with an offer like this.
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