It's going to be a nervous couple of weeks for Cleveland Cavaliers fans.
LeBron James has declined his 2015-16 player option, according to a report from Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
Related: Cavaliers reportedly plan to offer Love 5-year, $110-million deal
That's not at all unexpected: James' contract was structured so that it made sense for him to opt out this summer and re-sign a new, one-year deal ahead of the salary-cap boom of 2016. He earned $20.6 million this season and his option is for $21.6 million, but opting out to re-sign a one-year deal would see him earn roughly $22.1 million next year. Further to that, signing one-year deals until 2017, then signing long-term, could stand as the best way to maximize his long-term earnings.
Still, the Cavaliers will still try to dispel fears by offering James a four-year maximum contract when free agency opens on Wednesday, Windhorst reports.
What's surprising - and perhaps concerning for Cavs fans - is that James won't immediately sign that or any other new deal, instead choosing to sit on the sidelines and see how Cleveland's offseason plays out.
Northeast Ohio Media Group's Chris Haynes explained James' supposed approach earlier in the week:
James will take a wait-and-see approach while the Cavaliers tend to their housekeeping matters, league sources told Northeast Ohio Media Group.
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The belief is James wants to observe how management goes about retaining and accumulating assets (to) keep the organization in win-now mode and improve the roster.The chance of James bolting the city of Cleveland for a second time is slim, but his approach will allow him to assess the Cavaliers' moves before re-signing. It also applies pressure on the organization to do whatever is necessary to strengthen the team.
Again, this isn't much to stress about - James was always going to opt out, and applying pressure to the franchise by waiting to put pen to paper is hardly an egregious power play. The likelihood of James leaving - after a ceremonious homecoming, following an NBA Finals loss, and with his legions of local fans - is microscopic. The optics would be poor and it would be detrimental to his legacy.
But this isn't Hollywood, and James is admittedly in a funk following a finals defeat that had him wondering whether missing the playoffs altogether would have been a better option. His status isn't likely to hold up the entire league's offseason as teams try to lure him away, but it gives the Cavs an incentive to move swiftly to show James that the 2015-16 roster will be a championship contender.
It's unclear whether James will take a more active role in helping shape decisions, but he's reportedly been hesitant to do so in the past. Haynes reports that James will likely remain an observer, not wanting to meddle in personnel or coaching decisions and opting to give the team's free agents the space to make their own choices, contrary to general manager David Griffin's claims that James has been "very much engaged."
James' delay in signing - or his involvement in decisions - could also signal a big contract coming for Tristan Thompson, as James has been openly complimentary of the Canadian power forward and they share an agent. Thompson is a restricted free agent, and while the frontcourt is crowded if he and Kevin Love are both retained, the Cavs likely feel the need to do right by James' guy.
Love, who's also opted out, is the team's foremost priority, according to Griffin, and the team is expected to offer him a five-year, $110-million contract. Deals for Thompson, fellow restricted free agents Iman Shumpert and Matthew Dellavedova, and now-unrestricted free agent J.R. Smith could follow. The Cavs could also use the sizable, non-guaranteed deal of Brendan Haywood to improve the roster through the trade route.
Re-signing everyone and adding a piece through a Haywood trade would leave Cleveland with little flexibility to bring in free agents and a potentially historic luxury tax bill. In order to retain James and bring the city its first major sports championship since 1964, that may be worth it.
