Today’s meeting between LeBron James and the Heat in Las Vegas has come and gone, and seemingly the entire league waits to see what will come of it. There are plenty of LeBron-related rumors. We’ll round them up here, with the latest on top as updates continue to come in:
- The Cavs remain confident about their chances with LeBron based on their meetings with his agent, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio.
- A person briefed on the Miami meeting tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that LeBron offered no counter to the Heat’s pitch, such as a shorter max contract. James could still make such a counter after deliberating further, of course.
Earlier updates:
- James will not meet with any other teams, a source tells Broussard (Twitter link). The four-time MVP is comfortable with his knowledge of each of his suitors, and will spend the next day or more making his decision with his family, tweets David Aldridge of NBA.com.
- The Heat feel the meeting with James went well, and remain optimistic they can re-sign the superstar, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com.
- James plans to talk over his decision with his family now, tweets Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald.
- The decision will not be made or announced this evening, tweets Chris Broussard of ESPN.com.
- At this time, James does not have a meeting scheduled with the Cavs, per Windhorst (on Twitter).
- LeBron’s meeting with the Heat ended without a decision from James on where he will sign, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Bleacher Report’s Ethan J. Skolnick tweets that no announcement is imminent.
- Rival executives across are rooting for LeBron to return to Cleveland, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio.
- Kevin Love would only be interested in getting traded to Cleveland if James was acquired by the Cavs, sources tell Ken Berger of CBSSports.com which lines up with previous reports (Twitter link).
- The Heat doesn’t see the sitdown as an “armageddon” of sorts, but rather a planning session to show James the financial outlook for the roster, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
- Agent Rich Paul, and not James or Heat president Pat Riley, was the one who called the meeting, as Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio hears (Twitter link).
- A player close to James who spoke with Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick laughed at the idea that the moves the Heat have made this summer would impress the four-time MVP, presumably referring to the team’s agreements with Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger. That unidentified player believes the Heat would have been better off preserving as much cap flexibility as possible to sell LeBron on a more significant acquisition (Twitter links).
- The latest reports indicate James, Riley, Paul and Heat assistant GM Andy Elisburg will be present for the meeting.
Cray Allred contributed to this post.
As I said previously, I would agree with the notion that keeping those spaces clear would be more influential. I’m still not a fan of those moves
“rival executives are rooting for LeBron to return to Cleveland.” This fits with the notion that I’ve felt like everyone across the league, including players, executives, etc has banded together to no matter what, make sure that the Heat cant do anything. Even if they create even bigger super teams, they just want to screw the Heat over…That thought process is so ridiculous. It just adds to the stupidity that has gone on over the last 4 years. This is all created by the media. Why cant we just appreciate players or teams while having a favorite team? Why does there have to be so much hate involved?
Yeah that’s why the Hornets gift wrapped Shabazz Napier to the Heat w/ a nice tidy bow bc their is a conspiracy around the league to mess with the Heat. That is ludicrous.
Napier was going to be there for the Heat at 26. Charlotte got PJ Hairston and 2 more picks out of it. If you consider that helping the Heat, I find that to be ridiculous
Yeah those two second round picks are like getting a pair of scratch off lottery tickets. If he was going to be there, why trade up for him? There is no conspiracy around the league to harm the Heat.
they traded up for him to get rid of the cap space that those picks would take. The Heat could have just used those picks on sign and stash players if they wanted…If thats your reasoning for saying there is nothing going on, then I have to say that makes no sense…I will agree that there likely isnt any kind of conspiracy. I’m just saying that with everything out there the first week of free agency, it feels like there is something going on. I’m not one of those people that thinks like that though. I’m just pointing out that things seem to be a certain way based on the information thats been out there
Yeah, what about the giant ESPN propaganda machine over on their front page with like 50 articles about why LBJ shouldn’t come back to Cleveland. If freaking hate that.
Chris Sheridan is reporting that he has decided to return to Cleveland. He even removed LBJ from his top 25 free agent list.
is that guy reliable at all? or is he a Ric Bucher type?
No idea, but he was among the first of the mainstream media to report the possibility of LBJ to CLE when the rest of the media considered him going back to MIA a forgone conclusion.
Well, I’ve held the stance that I wont believe anything until I hear/see it from LeBron James himself. I going to continue to do that until an announcement on the decision is made. Whatever happens, I’m just thankful for the chance to see great basketball over the last 4 years
Nobody else is jumping on his story so we cannot know for sure until he announces himself. Sheridian claims Lebrons website will announce it. Nice to see real fans out there, either way you were treated to a great four years of basketball and there will be plenty of cap room going forward, if he leaves.
honestly, its been a great 11 years with D-Wade…4 years ago, I just really wanted Wade to stay and for them to somehow get Chris Bosh. Anything more than that was a bonus. It was a great run whatever happens. I just think about what could have been if the correct rotations were used in the NBA Finals this year. As for this offseason so far, I probably wouldnt have used the exceptions on Granger and McRoberts while targets who should have been of way higher priority are still out there…I said it when this whole thing started; I wont blame them for leaving, nor will I blame Riley for failing to make the right moves this offseason if they leave. I do question why LeBron would want to go back to Cleveland and play for an owner like Dan Gilbert though, but thats just me…
Dan Gilbert is probably a big obstacle but I think he has plenty of legit reasons such as his legacy and the talent of the team. If anything this just makes Gilbert look more pathetic, having to beg the “king” to return after his childish tirade when he left. Agree on MIA roster moves, rather underwhelming.
its not even just the letter. Its everything that guy has done since. I dont question the talent on Cleveland’s roster, though I’m significantly lower on Kyrie Irving than I was at this time last year.
So I guess he decided he’s resigning or signing with another team (Cleveland)