The Cleveland Cavaliers are often mentioned as a possible landing spot for NBA icon LeBron James if he leaves the Los Angeles Lakers, and his former Cavs teammate Channing Frye wants to see it happen.
“Go back to Cleveland,” Frye said when asked where he’d like to see James next season. “Go back to Cleveland. That’s what I wanna see. Go back home, last year, let’s get it done. Cleveland can move on from James Harden, so now they have a ball-handler. They have a guy who can play four different positions. He’ll make ’em tougher, or he’ll call ’em out and get ’em traded, either one. I mean, it’s just facts.”
James and Frye played together on the Cavs years ago and even won a title together in the 2015-16 season.
Since then, James has added one NBA title to his collection (in 2020 with the Lakers), but the Cavs have yet to reach the same heights. Currently, they are in the Eastern Conference Finals with a chance to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since their James era, but they are in an 0-2 hole in their ongoing series against the New York Knicks.
Frye brought up Harden, who has struggled at times in these playoffs with Cleveland. Adding James would give the Cavs a level of playoff experience and leadership that is invaluable to any team.
But acquiring the future Hall of Famer may not be an easy task due to cap obstacles, so Cleveland may have to get creative if it wants to truly pursue him this offseason.
James is aging but remains a very good NBA player, as evidenced by his 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game this season. He would be a tough piece to replace for the Lakers, who are entering an important offseason.
The Cavs may want to prove to themselves that they can get over the championship hump without James — something they’ve never done in their franchise history — but if they fall short again this year after making some significant trades around the deadline, they may have no choice but to consider the idea of bringing the team legend home.
Many teams have reportedly already called about James. That could include the Cavs. No matter how the situation unfolds from here, everyone can likely agree that James going home to Cleveland would be a storybook ending to his career.
