Reports Show LeBron James Opted Out of His Contract

LeBron James opted out of his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and will become an unrestricted free agent for the next season, according to recent reports. Unnamed sources were cited by these reports since neither James nor the Cavaliers have discussed the process in public.

The reports also indicated that James will remain with Cleveland. Opting out of his contract will allow James to sign a maximum contract that will give him more than what he was supposed to receive under his previous contract. James is expected to sign a two-year deal with a player option for the 2017 -2018 season. The decision to opt out of the contract was already expected by industry watchers.

The maximum amount James is expected to receive for the next season may be over $22 million. The figure is determined by the increase in the salary cap for the season.

LeBron James Opts Out Of Contract - image credit: abcnew.go.com

This will be the third time LeBron James has become an unrestricted free agent in the last six seasons. He left Cleveland in 2010 and joined the Miami Heat. He won two championship rings with Miami and entered the finals in all four seasons with the Heat before he decided to return to his home state last season.

Reports from ESPN and The Associated Press revealed that James will not leave Cleveland. This comes as Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert and General Manager David Griffith are set to bring in players who can support James as the team aims to bring a major sports championship to the city after over fifty years.

The team is expected to focus on negotiations with a number of free agents, including Iman Shumpert, Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love. On the other hand, negotiations with LeBron James are expected to be quite simple.

James led a depleted Cavaliers lineup into the finals recently, and pushed the NBA Finals to six games before losing the Golden State Warriors. James averaged around 36 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists with Kyrie Irving and Love out due to injuries. He played around 46 minutes in each game of the series. In the 2007 NBA Finals, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the San Antonio Spurs in his first stint with the Cavaliers.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Tuesday June 30 2015, 10:32 AM EDT. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0