LeBron James leaving the Cavs would be a surprise, says an East Executive

What's the story?

LeBron James leaving the East now might be a big surprise according to one-high ranking Eastern Conference team executive.

In case you didn't know...

LeBron James is in the last year of his current contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. James has an option to enter free agency this summer if he rejects his player option worth $35 million for next season.

The heart of the matter...

There have been plenty of speculation surrounding the 3-time champion leaving Cleveland in the coming off-season for the second time in his career. The potential destination, the Los Angeles Lakers, have cleared plenty of space by trading Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. to the Cavs.

They now have room for two max contracts with James and Paul George representing the dream scenario, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. But the recent rebuild by the Cavs front office might have just turned the table around for the King and could end up convincing him to stay at home for at least another year.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he stays in Cleveland now,” told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. “The Cavaliers put a really good team around him. The Cavaliers have made it really tough for him to decide to leave Cleveland again. The Lakers might have helped them keep LeBron.”

Although the Lakers needed to create cap space to add James, they have helped the current Cavs’ team add two young, athletic and useful rotation players. The addition of George Hill and Rodney Hood provide significant depth to their roster and therefore the trades have helped the Cavaliers in getting back to being a legitimate contender.

What's next?

The Cavaliers were struggling before the re-tooling of the roster having lost 13 out of the last 19 games. Since the trade deadline, the Cavs have won 2 in a row entering the All-Star break. They would like to continue this new run of play as they host the Washington Wizards on Thursday.

Author's take

The Cavaliers have improved drastically after the addition of 4 new players, but do they still have enough firepower to battle it out against the Western Conference juggernauts?

If this leads to another deep playoff run, the King might want to stay for more.