Cleveland Cavaliers' stance regarding potential LeBron James reunion revealed originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
LeBron James’ future beyond the 2025-26 NBA season remains a major question mark. James is on the final year of his current contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, and there’s been ample speculation about what he might decide to do over the offseason.
James basically has three options: He could re-sign with the Lakers, sign with another team, or retire.
Cleveland Cavaliers open to reunion with LeBron James in 2026
At this point, it seems somewhat unlikely that he’d re-up with the Lakers, as it feels like that relationship has run its course and the Lakers appear ready to move forward with Luka Doncic as the franchise player.
More: LeBron James quotes Jay-Z to tease eventual retirement
Perhaps he could retire, but that also seems unlikely given the high level that he’s still producing at. So that leaves signing with a different team.
Some have suggested that James might want to finish his career in Cleveland. After all, the Cavaliers drafted him way back in 2023, and he spent 11 seasons in Cleveland, including the first seven seasons of his career.
As it turns out, the Cavaliers as an organization would welcome a reunion with the best player in franchise history, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
“James is now in his eighth season with the Lakers -- his longest uninterrupted stint with a team in his career -- but his future in Los Angeles remains uncertain, with his contract set to expire at the end of the campaign and the franchise set to move forward with Luka Doncic as its star of the present and the future,” McMenamin wrote in a recent article.
More: Giannis Antetokounmpo shares incredibly high praise for LeBron James
“Multiple team and league sources told ESPN the Cavaliers would gladly welcome James back this summer if he wanted to return to Cleveland for his 24th NBA season and third stint with the team.”
This doesn’t mean that a reunion will definitely happen, as it doesn’t reflect how James’ feelings on the matter, but it’s still intriguing nonetheless. James has already returned to Cleveland once, whose to say that he wouldn’t do it for a second time to close his career?
For James, there could be a certain allure to beginning his career in Cleveland and finishing it in the same place. In that way, it would be a fitting ending to one of the most illustrious careers in the history of basketball.
We’ll have to wait until the offseason to see what James ultimately decides to do, but the potential of a return to Cleveland certainly shouldn’t be discounted.
More NBA news:
