LeBron James‘ future in Cleveland is unclear beyond the upcoming season but he said to reporters during Monday’s media day that his stated intentions to finish his career with the Cavs haven’t changed, Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com writes.
James said he will honor his current deal with the Cavaliers as he attempts to reach the NBA Finals for the eighth consecutive season. James will field questions about his future for the rest of the season but he said that he will handle his fourth free agency next summer.
“And if you guys know me, I don’t know if you know me as much, but I’ve always handled it in the most businesslike way,” James said. “And I will do that with my team, and we’ll handle that in the summertime, as we always have.”
The Cavaliers enter 2017/18 with a restructured roster that no longer has Kyrie Irving but does feature recently signed Dwyane Wade, former NBA Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose, and last season’s Eastern Conference scoring leader Isaiah Thomas. Barring a collapse the Cavaliers are favorites to return to the NBA Finals for a fourth straight season.
Read up on other news surrounding the Central Division:
- While the Cavaliers‘ signing of Wade may reduce J.R. Smith‘s playing time, the Cleveland sharpshooter is ready for the upcoming season, Spencer Davies of Basketball Insiders writes.
- Zach LaVine is making progress in his comeback from a torn ACL, staying behind after practices end to improve himself, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said that LaVine will likely not be able to take contact during practice until mid-November, per Nick Friedell of ESPN (Twitter link).
- With a younger Bulls roster in place, Denzel Valentine said he will likely see more playing time and will need to take advantage of it, Vincent Goodwill of CSN Chicago writes.
- NBA.com’s Sam Smith answers questions in his latest mailbag including the Bulls‘ post-Wade future, depth at point guard, and expectations from the youngsters.
That Cavs new defense that Irving will see.
Will be interesting to watch
“I’ve always handled it in the most business like way”.
Lmao yeah right.
He needs to ‘take his talents’ to a psychiatrist if he really thinks that’s true.
he had one instance in 14 years… lebron has handled being the face of the league perfect. put some respect on his name. (ima bulls fan)