All-Star forward James won’t waive his no-trade clause
LeBron remains focused on helping Cavs this season.
LeBron James says he remains focused on winning now with the Cavaliers and will not waive the no-trade clause in his contract.
“No. Naw, I’m here for the long haul,” James said after Tuesday’s loss in Orlando. “I’m here for this season right now, try to figure out ways we can still compete. I couldn’t give up on my teammates like that. I couldn’t do that. I just couldn’t do it. We put too much into the game every single day; we go out and prepare. Win, lose or draw and at the end of the day we’re all brothers and we understand that. I owe it to my teammates to finish this season out no matter how it ends up. I would never waive my no-trade clause.”
With the NBA trade deadline looming today, teams have inquired about whether that was a possibility with James, according to a report by Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
James is expected to decline his $35.6 million player option for 2018-19 and become a free agent in July, but said last week he won’t make any decisions about his future until then.
He could elect to remain with the Cavs, although speculation has been rampant that he will head to the Los Angeles Lakers. A report on Tuesday by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne said the Lakers are now “recalibrating their focus” on a 2019 free agent class that might be led by the Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard, the Warriors’ Klay Thompson and the Timberwolves’ Jimmy Butler.
Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports reported several teams that might have been considering moves at the trade deadline believe the buyout market could be robust the next several weeks and might go that route.
Former Cavs general manager David Griffin used buyouts in 2017 to acquire center Andrew Bogut, injured just seconds into his Cleveland debut, and point guard Deron Williams. Current GM Koby Altman signed guard Dwyane Wade on Sept. 27 after Wade received a buyout from the Chicago Bulls.
At shootaround before Tuesday’s loss, coach Tyronn Lue was asked if he thought a move at the trade deadline would spark his team.
“A little jolt? I don’t know, we’ll see. Got to talk to Koby,” Lue said.
Latest disaster: In the first half in Orlando, the Cavs cleaned up some of their problems in building a 21-point second-quarter lead. But the ending couldn’t have been more disastrous as the Magic used a 16-0 run to break open a tie game and run away with a 116-98 victory at Amway Center.
The Cavs fell to 30-22, 6-13 since Christmas. After the Wizards loss Tuesday, the Cavs remained in third place in the Eastern Conference.
Jonathon Simmons exploded for 22 of his teamhigh 34 points in the third quarter as the Magic took their first lead of the game at the 5:33 mark on two free throws by Simmons.
But the Magic stretched the lead to 108-92 with 4:51 to go. The Cavs’ drought didn’t end until LeBron James made the second of two free throws with 4:35 to go.
James finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, but lost six turnovers. Tristan Thompson contributed 12 points and nine rebounds and Isaiah Thomas had 11 points and eight assists.
The third quarter again proved disastrous for the Cavs. They found no one who could cover Simmons, a 6-foot-6 forward in his second season out of the University of Houston. Simmons made 7 of 8 field goals and his only 3-pointer, that coming just before the horn sounded.
For the game, Simmons made 12 of 17 field goals and added seven rebounds.
Cavs guard Dwyane Wade was excused from Tuesday’s shootaround due to illness, but played 22 minutes against the Magic and scored 11 points with four rebounds.
Wade, 36, has not been cleared to play in back-toback games and Lue said at shootaround that he planned to sit Wade for Wednesday night’s home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.