LeBron James has given his signature to remain in Cleveland, but the superstar wants to see the Cavaliers further bolster their roster in the offseason.
After opting out of the two-year deal he signed last summer, James inked another two-year contract worth $23 million annually, with a player option for the second season. Though he was an unrestricted free agent, the Cavaliers leader didn’t take meetings with other teams and was expected to return all along.
Nevertheless, James waited to officially sign before getting an idea of Cleveland’s position in free agency. The Cavaliers have had a busy offseason thus far, bringing back Kevin Love on a five-year, $113m deal, re-singing Iman Shumpert to a four-year, $40m contract and adding Mo Williams for two years at $4.3m.
“It’s been good so far, but we have a lot of work to do,” James said Friday in his hometown of Akron for a screening of his feature-length movie, ‘Trainwreck’.
“We still got to re-sign Tristan [Thompson]. Hopefully we can bring back J.R. [Smith] as well and see if there’s some other free agents out there that’d love to come here and play if we’re able to do that.
“We definitely don’t want to come back the same team. We want to come back better. But right now, we’ve been doing so far, so good.”
Taking care of Thompson has been a priority for the four-time MVP as both players are represented by James’ agent, Rich Paul. Cleveland and the power forward were close to an agreement on a five-year, $80m deal, but have yet to settle on a figure.
Thompson was integral to the Cavaliers’ postseason run, filling in impressively for the injured Love and averaging 9.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 55.8 per cent shooting in the playoffs.
– #Quiz360: WIN a gym membership at FitRepublik
– #360view: Knicks, Lakers no longer an attractive option
– NBA: Wade secures new one-year deal at Heat
Smith, meanwhile, declined his $6.4m option for next season and hasn’t been heavily pursued in free agency.
Even with the rising salary cap, which has jumped 11 per cent to an all-time high $70m, as well as the increased tax level, now at $84.74m following a 10.3 per cent growth, Cleveland are already well into the luxury tax.
The Cavaliers can clear additional space by moving the $10m expiring contract of centre Brendan Haywood via a trade to potentially bring in more veteran help.
Though James would like more done, between his re-signing and Love’s return, Cleveland have at the very least ensured the core of the franchise remains intact.
Cavaliers general manager David Griffin said of having James officially on board: “LeBron’s re-signing today is a reflection and continuation of his strong, personal commitment to help deliver championships to northeast Ohio and Cavs fans everywhere.
“We share this deep level of commitment with him. His impact upon this team, his community and the game are impossible to overstate and we look forward to continuing on our mission together.”