LeBron James told the Lakers he’s leaving. The internet immediately assumed a Cleveland homecoming. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst? He’s not so sure.
Hours after Shams Charania broke the news that James would play elsewhere next season, Windhorst got asked point-blank: Are the Cavaliers a realistic landing spot? His answer was careful. Almost cagey.
“I don’t think the Cavs are a realistic option,” Windhorst said. “I’ve not heard the Cavs are out but I’ve certainly not heard that they’re in. So, I’m not considering that as an option at the moment.”
That’s not a no. But it’s also not a yes. And for a guy who covered James in Cleveland for years, that kind of hedging means something.
The Jarrett Allen sign-and-trade idea isn’t dead yet
Windhorst’s cautious tone this week is a little surprising given that just days earlier he laid out a pretty specific path for a deal. He floated a sign-and-trade where the Lakers send LeBron to Cleveland in exchange for Jarrett Allen.
“There is a thought process out there in Los Angeles and if the Cavs were interested in this, the Lakers would sit up in attention right now,” Windhorst said last week. “They would sign-and-trade LeBron for Jarrett Allen. I think if the Cavs were willing to do that, they could have LeBron.”
He was blunt about how badly L.A. wants a center too. “The Lakers would kill for Jarrett Allen. Kill for him! They would do that deal in 17 tenths of a second.”
So which is it? Is Cleveland out or not? Windhorst seems to be leaving room for the Cavs to change their minds — or for the front office to make a move quietly before anything leaks.
Max Strus adds another layer to Cleveland’s offseason
LeBron isn’t the only story in Cleveland right now. Windhorst also pointed to veteran wing Max Strus as someone worth watching. Strus is entering the final year of his deal, and the Cavs have a choice to make.
“I definitely think it’s something to keep an eye on,” Windhorst said. “The Cavs have several different options that they’re looking at… in my view with Strus you either sign him to an extension or you trade him. You do not hold him on a one-year deal so that is definitely something to keep an eye on.”
The Cavs just made another deep playoff run. They’re trying to build on that momentum without blowing up the roster. Moving Strus would free up flexibility. Keeping him keeps continuity. It’s the kind of decision that matters whether James comes back or not.
For now, the LeBron-to-Cleveland talk is exactly that — talk. But Windhorst’s own reporting shows there’s at least one trade framework that could make it real. Whether the Cavs actually pull the trigger is the question nobody’s answering yet.
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