LeBron James To Decline $35.6M Final-Year Option And Become Free Agent

LeBron James on Friday declined the $35.6 million option for one more year provided by his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, which means he will become an unrestricted free agent.

LeBron James To Become Free Agent

The 33-year-old forward has been with the Cavs since 2014 and helped lead the team to a fourth straight NBA Finals this year. James was given until 11:59pm EST Friday to decide whether or not to opt out of his final year. Free agency officially starts at 12:01 am EST on Sunday.

James has previously entered free agency twice: first in 2010, after his contract with the Cavaliers expired and he left Cleveland for the Miami Heat; and then again four years ago, when he used the early termination option in his contract with the Heat and returned to his home state of Ohio to rejoin the Cavs. In 2016, he opted out of his Cavaliers deal to sign a new two-year contract with two years guaranteed and a third-year player option.

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The King could return to Cleveland this fall, although he has been strongly rumored to end up with the Los Angeles Lakers. Some pundits and fans have even speculated that James could form a superteam with the Lakers that includes other newly-minted All-Star free agents like Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. 

On Thursday, it was reported that the Philadelphia 76ers would be aggressively pursuing George, a former Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder star. The Houston Rockets are also reportedly interested in George, however. The Lakers and Sixers are also targeting Leonard.

James — who is widely considered one of the top players in the NBA — recently finished a stellar season, his 15th in the league. He played all 82 of Cleveland’s games and averaged 27.5 points (his highest in eight seasons), and matched a career-best with 8.6 rebounds per contest. He also shot 54.2 percent from the field, according to ESPN.

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The King was also the runner-up in MVP voting this year. Houston’s James Harden won the award for the first time.

After the Golden State Warriors swept the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals earlier this month, James clearly explained that he is thinking of his family above all else in deciding his next destination.

“The one thing that I’ve always done is considered, obviously, my family,” the father of three told ESPN after Cleveland’s Game 4 loss. Understanding especially where my boys are at this point in their age. They were a lot younger the last time I made a decision like this four years ago. I’ve got a teenage boy, a preteen and a little girl that wasn’t around as well. So sitting down and considering everything, my family is a huge part of whatever I’ll decide to do in my career, and it will continue to be that.”