New Report Details What It Could Cost Cavaliers to Bring Back LeBron

The Los Angeles Lakers would be open to trading LeBron James back to the Cleveland Cavaliers according to a new report from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

The Cavaliers missed out on the sweepstakes for Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was traded from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Miami Heat earlier this week.

But now, the Cavs could shift their focus to another reunion with LeBron, who could probably be acquired for much less than it would’ve taken to get Antetokounmpo in Cleveland.

The price to pay for LeBron revealed

“Obviously, LeBron would have to want to sign with the Cavs, but if your pathway to paying LeBron the money is to trade Jarrett Allen for him, the Lakers would KILL for Jarrett Allen,” Windhorst said. “KILL for him. All right? They would do that deal in 17-tenths of a second.”

According to Windhorst, the Lakers would have no issue trading James back to Cleveland in exchange for Jarrett Allen.

Allen has three more seasons left on his $131 million deal. He’d give the Lakers an All-Star caliber center to pair with Luka Doncic.

In 56 games with the Cavs last season, Allen averaged 15 points per game and eight rebounds. The 28-year-old San Diego native is coming off of his best postseason run of his career, averaging 12.7 points, seven rebounds and one block in Cleveland’s 18 playoff games.

Would one year of LeBron be worth at least three more years of Allen?

That’s the question that the Cavaliers will have to answer if they’d want to entertain a sign and trade with the Lakers for LeBron, who would of course have to be willing to play in Cleveland for his age 42 season.

Of course the Lakers would love Allen, who is an All-Star caliber center when he’s fully engaged. But the Cavs don’t have to sacrifice Allen to give LeBron a fair deal this offseason. Assuming Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman continues with his financial gymnastics, Cleveland would be able to pursue LeBron as an unrestricted free agent.

Part of LeBron’s appeal in Cleveland would be pairing him with the nucleus that the Cavs have already built.

The NBA legend would have ample shooting in the backcourt with James Harden and Donovan Mitchell. He’d have lob threat abilities with Evan Mobley and Allen, assuming the 28-year-old center doesn’t get shipped to Los Angeles in the deal.

A LeBron return certainly sounds possible. Now, the question feels like how aggressively do the Cavs want to pursue it?

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