Report: LeBron 'ready to explore the market' without help in Miami, some 'think it's a smokescreen'
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Happy 4th of July, America. And what's more American than freedom? As in, the freedom to choose where you live, where you'll work and, in the case of unrestricted free agent LeBron James, who you'll spend the next few years living and working with.
While James himself is tweeting about Independence Day activities with the family, his agent Rich Paul has been hard at work over the past two days exercising James' liberty on the star's behalf.
As you can read about more in the storyline below, Paul has been taking meetings with the top suitors for James and listening to preliminary pitches without the league's best player present. Piecing together various reports, Paul has met with Phoenix, Cleveland, Houston and Dallas, while the Los Angeles Lakers are on tap for Friday. The Miami Heat, obviously, have already spoke to James plenty.
Does this all mean anything, or is Paul just doing his due diligence? It's tough to read the tea leaves clearly, and even the most dialed-in insiders are receiving conflicting reports.
To wit, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports cites one source who said, "There's clearly a breakdown in communication" between The Big Three, and in the same piece, another who said, "I think it's a smokescreen." What purpose the smokescreen would be serving is unclear, but perhaps the Heat are trying to freeze the free agent market so they have longer to add supporting pieces.
Meanwhile, their ability to add said pieces is tenuous. Because Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade have not yet officially agreed to take "severe cuts," the Heat are operating without knowing exactly how much they'll have to spend. It's necessary as part of their pitch to keep James, however, who "Seems ready to explore the market" if supporting pieces aren't secured shortly.
Three days into the official proceedings, far more questions have been created than answered. Phoenix may offer the most interesting cap and talent situation, the Cavaliers offer a homecoming and young talent, the Lakers are the Lakers, and so forth. But the Heat are also the Heat, Wade and Bosh are Wade and Bosh, and Pat Riley is Pat Riley.
There really should be a television special for this. LeBachelor.