Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
An updating timeline of how the Cavs fit into LeBron’s strange summer.
LeBron James’s time with the
Los Angeles Lakers seems to be reaching a crossroads. At the moment, the only remaining question is how long this will drag out.
The
Cleveland Cavaliers would seem to be the logical choice for James if he were to end his career outside of LA. He spent 11 seasons with the team, he’s from the area, and the Cavs have a championship-caliber team on paper that hasn’t translated to the playoffs yet. James could be the missing piece that gets them over the hump.
We don’t know how this situation is going to play out. It’s still more likely that LeBron plays the 2025-26 season with the Lakers and moves on elsewhere afterward. That said, this wasn’t a conversation I was expecting to have last month.
Below is an updated timeline of events that have led us to the point of wondering whether James could return to the team that drafted him 21 years ago.
June 29 - LeBron opts into his $52.6 million player option with the Lakers for 2025-26
Somehow,
LeBron's decision to opt into his contract with the Lakers sparked this whole thing. James’s agent, Rich Paul, released a cryptic statement along with the opt-in announcement that made it clear his client wasn’t exactly thrilled with what he was seeing from the Lakers.
“LeBron wants to compete for a championship,”
Paul said via an article from ESPN’s Shams Charania. “He knows the
Lakers are building for the future. He understands that, but he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we’ve had for eight years with Jeanie [Buss] and Rob [Pelinka] and consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career.
“We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what’s best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career. He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what’s best for him.”
Paul’s quote made it seem that James was opting into the money and out of the Lakers, which isn’t exactly how these contracts work.
June 30 - Paul tries to clarify that James isn’t asking for a trade
The next day,
Paul tried to clean things up by saying that his client wasn’t asking for a trade. But, again, he didn’t exactly give his full support to the Lakers, which is what you’d expect if you’re going to try to clear this situation up.
NBA Insider Chris Haynes said that there
weren’t any trade or extension talks with Los Angeles.
Dave McMenamin of ESPN relayed that Paul claimed four teams reached out about a possible LeBron trade, but that his client was waiting to see how the Lakers roster looked after free agency.
Rich Paul also told ESPN he informed both Rob Pelinka and Lara Beth Seager, Luka Doncic's business manager, about LeBron James' intent to pick up his option and the statement he planned to release before it happened Sunday. "No one was blindsided," Paul said.
https://t.co/ZZeuV1JSbd
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten)
July 1, 2025
July 1 and 2 - Rob Pelinka makes some unserious Lakers signings
Paul made it clear that he wanted to see if the Lakers could put together a title-contending team around Luka Doncic and LeBron — which seems like it wouldn’t be too hard to do considering those building blocks.
Instead, Pelinka went out and let key role player
Dorian Finney-Smith walk out the door and then signed
Jake LaRavia (averaged 6.1 points last season with the Sacramento Kings) and
Deandre Ayton (someone who hasn’t applied himself on the court in at least four years).
These aren’t the moves that you would make if you were a team actively trying to win next season. Instead, they were moves made likely with the intention of
preserving cap space for 2027.
July 2 - LeBron posts a photo playing golf in Northeast Ohio wearing a Welcome Home hat
James is from Akron and visits the area in the summer. Playing golf with friends isn’t really a story. But then again, with LeBron, everything seems to have some sort of meaning. Or at the very least, he doesn’t shy away from dropping not-so-subtle hints.
July 3 - LeBron reposts a photo of Allie Clifton wearing a LeBron Cavs jersey
Clifton used to be a sideline reporter for the Cavs and co-hosts the Road Trippin’ podcast with former players Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye.
She posted a picture on Instagram wearing an old LeBron Cavs jersey. James then reposted the picture on his story with a caption, “Proper attire.”
July 4 - Denver Jones posts a picture with LeBron at the Cavs' practice facility in Independence
Players are allowed to work out at any NBA team’s practice facility during the summer. Still, James has access to many gyms in the area that he could use besides the Cavs.
Additionally, he didn’t have to pose for a photo there that he likely knew would end up on social media.
July 4 - LeBron says we’re reading too much into everything
James, after stoking the fire on social media, tried to do some damage control by saying he always goes and works out at the Cavs' practice facility when he’s in the area.
And every summer since it was built. I live here still and train every summer. Got damn yall bored man! Go get a plate of food somewhere and enjoy the 4th of July!
— LeBron James (@KingJames)
July 4, 2025
July 8 - LeBron reposts a clarification about the “Welcome Home” hat
In more cleanup social media work, James shared a video clearing up “hat gate.”
July 11 - Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst release a detailed report about the Lakers' summer
ESPN NBA insiders Shelburne and Windhorst released a
lengthy report about what they know of the Lakers' intentions.
In that report, they shared that:
- Doncic and not LeBron have been included in internal conversations about team building.
- James feels that he’s not being valued by the Lakers.
- James wasn’t given significant notice about the Doncic trade.
- An Eastern Conference executive was convinced James wants out of Los Angeles.
- Lakers have “already made their statement in not offering James a contract beyond this season.”
July 11 - Random Phoenix radio host says the Lakers would like to move on from James “ASAP.”
Does John Gambadoro, a sports talk show host in Phoenix, have inside information that NBA insiders aren’t sharing? Probably not. But I guess it’s worth noting that he said the Lakers want to move on from James since it made headlines.
They would like to move on from him ASAP
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987)
July 11, 2025
July 11 - Frye and Clifton share cryptic posts about the Lakers wanting to move off of James
Sam Amico aggregated an article about Gambadoro’s tweet, saying Los Angeles wanted to move on from James.
Frye, who played with James on the 2016 championship team and seemingly has a good relationship with him, then shared that article on X with an old GIF of James eating popcorn on Cleveland’s bench.
Clifton then reshared the post.
Does this mean anything? Who knows. What we do know is that LeBron has ways to get messages out there through his friends in the media — like Clifton and Frye — if he wanted to.
We can’t say that he is trying to get a message out there with Clifton and Frye. But then again, we can’t say that he isn’t.
July 11 - Cavs are reportedly only interested in James if he’s bought out
Ashish Mathur of Amico Hoops reported that the Cavs are only interested in James if he’s bought out of his current contract with the Lakers.
July 12 - LeBron refuses to shut down any rumors, says “I ain’t got nothing to talk about.”
James showed up to Summer League to watch Bronny James and the Lakers. He was asked by ESPN to join the broadcast, but declined. He reportedly told McMenamin, “I ain’t got nothing to talk about.”
It would have been easy enough for LeBron to settle things once and for all right here. His subliminal messages have been heard. Everyone knows he isn’t entirely satisfied with the Lakers, but the overall situation hasn’t changed.
Maybe James was doing his best to avoid stepping on another rake by giving a live interview. Or, maybe he wants this drama to continue in some form. All we know is the fire hasn’t gone out yet.
July 12 - Lakers acknowledge LeBron on social media for the first time after he picked up his player option
It’s dangerous to read too much into team social media posts. They don’t make trades or have insider information.
However, the Lakers haven’t made a statement about James since he picked up his option and the first time they posted him was when he was in attendance to watch Bronny’s Summer League game on Saturday.
This is all odd considering how often they typically post about James. Whether this means anything is anyone’s guess, but it’s at least worth pointing out.
July 12 - Four teams reached out about a LeBron trade, maybe the Cavs were one
McMenamin mentioned on the broadcast of the Lakers’ Summer League game that Paul told him
four teams reached out about a possible trade.
Whether or not the Cavs were one of those teams is anyone’s guess.
ScoopB said that the
Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers,
Dallas Mavericks, and the Cavs reached out to Paul about trading for James. Amico counteracted that report by saying
Cleveland hasn’t reached out about James.
It’s anyone’s guess as to whether the Cavs have inquired about trading for James at this point.
July 14 - LeBron congratulates Brandon Weems on contract extension with Cavs
Cavs front office members Koby Altman, Mike Gansey, and Weems all had
contract extensions announced. James took to social media to congratulate Weems on the news.
Weems and James have a long history together. They were teammates at St. Vincent-St. Mary’s High School. Weems has worked his way up through the Cavs organization to be the assistant general manager.
Congratulating a long-time friend on a promotion is pretty innocent on the surface. However, James has yet to publicly comment on the Lakers’ sale or any of their moves.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/26058788/SAC_vs_CLE_on_07_16_2025.png "Tyrese Proctor’s scoring chart from Wednesday’s game. He went 3-3 inside the arc, 4-7 from the midrange, and 4-14 from three.")
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