LeBron James plans to decline his 2015-16 player option, and while most expect he'll be re-signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers and are treating his impending "free agency" as a formality, James says he's in no rush to ink a new deal, and prefers to wait and see how the Cavs' offseason plays out.
To avoid any possibility of taking a wrong step - like, say, getting rid of Mike Miller (Note: Never get rid of Mike Miller) - Cleveland's front office is consulting regularly with James regarding their plans for the team's roster.
"We've heard from him every day pretty much," Cavs co-general manager David Griffin said after Thursday's NBA Draft, according to Joe Vardon of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "He's very engaged."
James has a history of dropping off the map when hot stove season begins, stepping away from the madness and taking some time to clear his head and rest his body. Apparently that's not the case this time around, at least so far.
"He is not dark," Griffin said. "It's been great. He's been very much engaged with us on a lot of different levels. It's been positive."
Despite his apparent engagement, James has said he won't be going out of his way to sell free-agent teammate Kevin Love on a return to Cleveland, which doesn't necessarily mean anything, but doesn't necessarily mean nothing.
Meanwhile, on the heels of the draft - in which they dealt the No. 24 pick (presumably to save salary) to the Minnesota Timberwolves for three second-round picks (two this year) - the Cavs face several crucial offseason decisions.
The biggest, perhaps outside of Love's free agency, is what to do with restricted free agent Tristan Thompson, who shares an agent with James and appears set to command a max contract after a tremendous postseason. Lesser but not-insignificant contributors in J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Matthew Dellavedova will also be free agents come July 1.
The Cavs, in the meantime, have been active in trying to improve the roster on the fringes in whatever ways they can, including shopping Brendan Haywood's non-guaranteed $10.5-million deal - virtually their only tradeable asset at this point - to lighten their ledger and give them a bit more financial flexibility.
"That's certainly the hope," Griffin said. "Not necessarily to (Haywood's) contract specifically, but just as you tried to add the pieces we need, everything you can put into the hopper is important."
The Cavs are still very well-positioned on the whole, but it won't be an easy offseason by any means. If LeBron wants to flex his GM chops, now would be the time.
