Report: LeBron James Did Not Commit To Staying With Cavaliers Before Isaiah Thomas Trade
Before executing the trade that sent Isaiah Thomas to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Cleveland Cavaliers did not get a commitment from LeBron James that he will stay with the team when he is expected to become a free agent after the season, according to ESPN'S Brian Windhorst.
The Cavaliers sent Thomas, forward Channing Frye, and the Cavaliers' protected first-round pick in 2018 to the Lakers for Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr.
Thomas' agent Aaron Goodwin told Cleveland.com that James was running the offense with Cleveland.
"It's LeBron's ball, and this clearly wasn't working," Goodwin said. "Koby (Altman) and I have had enough conversations where it was clear, with the way the system was going, it wasn't beneficial for either party. This is a good opportunity for Isaiah."
The Lakers are reportedly looking to clear cap space ahead of the 2018 free agency class and possibly pursue James, if he opts out of his contract. Thomas has $6.3 million remaining on an expiring contract. Frye will also make $7.4 million before his deal is over at the end of the season. The Lakers' currently have $46.9 million in cap room for the summer but that could increase to as much as $69 million, if they decide not to re-sign Julius Randle and stretch out Luol Deng's $37 million deal over five years.
Cleveland picked up $28 million from Clarkson's deal, which runs through the 2019-20 season and Nance's deal through next year.
On Thursday, the Cavaliers acquired Rodney Hood and George Hill in a three-team deal with the Utah Jazz and Sacramento Kings. The Kings acquired Joe Johnson from Utah and Iman Shumpert from Cleveland. The Jazz got Jae Crowder and Derek Rose from the Cavaliers.
The transformation did not stop there. Cleveland also sent Dwayne Wade to the Miami Heat for a heavily protected second-round daft pick, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
