When LeBron James won his second NBA Championship with the Miami Heat in 2013, he did it with sharp-shooters Ray Allen and Mike Miller. Now he might try to win another title with them, but this time in his home state, with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers have expressed interest in all three players, all of whom are free agents. The Cavaliers hope to land James for a second time. He spent the first seven years of his career there before famously agreeing to join the Heat as a free agent four years ago.
Allen, who turns 39 years old later this month, was with James in Miami for the last two years. The NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers was seriously considering retiring this summer but has decided to continue his career and play a 19th season.
Miller played with James during the first three years of the Big Three Era in Miami. Last summer, Miller was cut from the team in a move to conserve cap space. He played the 2013-14 season with the Memphis Grizzlies, reports ESPN.com.
In the past, James has publically expressed his special friendships with both Allen and Miller. Of Miller, he said: “Mike, everything that he went through, both injuries and being in and out of the lineups, and not one day did he ever come to work with an 'I don't want to be here' attitude. Like never. And we all respected that. And for a guy like that who's done so much in his career, to come in with that mindset every day, we all saw that."
In order to make room for any combination of James, Allen and Miller, Cleveland was involved in a three-team trade in which they dealt Sergey Karasev and Jarrett Jack to the Brooklyn Nets and Tyler Zeller and a future first-round pick to the Boston Celtics. This move cleared $21.7 million from the Cavaliers’ salary cap, according to thecelebritycafe.com .
If James signs with Cleveland, he would get a maximum contract of $20.7 million per year. Allen and Miller would be given cap-friendly deals.