I know it is not the end of the season, and LeBron James’ contract does not expire until 2014 but I have gotten requests to give my opinions on what might happen to LeBron James after his contract expires.
There are always rumors around for someone who is as polarizing as LeBron James. The first rumor is LeBron leaving Miami. The rumor is that he will leave the Miami Heat and go back to the Cleveland Cavaliers where he was born and raised, as well as where he started his NBA career. You know what I think about this rumor, well it is just that, a rumor. In my opinion I think there is no chance that this will happen. Can I ask you this? Why would LeBron leave the Heat if he is winning championships? Especially when most of his critics are critics because of the number of championships he has. I think the the only way he would ever consider leaving for the Cavs if they signed Dwight Howard in the off-season. My best bet is LeBron stays with the Heat. The main reason is, Dwayne Wade. He and LeBron James are very close, and I do not think LeBron would want to have to learn how to play with different players than he is used to.
The next rumor I am going to talk about is a contract rumor. A couple of weeks ago I saw ESPN talking about this same topic. They said there is a possibility that the Miami Heat would pay LeBron 75 million dollars a year to stay with them. That is right, I said 75 million dollars PER YEAR to keep the Heat uniform on LeBron James every game. Now, I think this is outrageous. How will the Heat be able to muster up 75 million dollars in cap space to spend on only one player. Now do not get me wrong, if anyone deserves 75 million dollars a year it is LeBron James, but there is not just one player on a team. Especially when you also have a player like Dwayne Wade. Overall I see this unlikely as well.
What do I think will happen to LeBron? I think he will resign with the Heat for around 25 million dollars per year. He is currently making only 17.5 million dollars per year, which is probably less than he deserves, so I think he will cash in on his new contract. How do I think the Heat will accommodate for this cap space hit? I think the Heat will try to restructure Chris Bosh’s contract, who has become more of a back-up option to James and Wade. Bosh is currently making 14.5 million dollars a year. That is what I think will happen to LeBron James.