Report: LeBron 'concerned' about Cavs' lackluster offseason
The Cleveland Cavaliers have one year left to convince LeBron James to re-sign, but this summer has gone terribly.
James expected his team to reload in anticipation of closing the gap with Golden State. Instead, Cleveland added non-impact veterans such as Jose Calderon, Jeff Green, and Turkish forward Cedi Osman, while losing front-office stability with the departure of David Griffin.
All this has James concerned about the direction of the team, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. James can become a free agent in 2018 and might leave for a different team with a better shot of contending.
Furthering James' frustration was the failed pursuit of Jimmy Butler when he was being shopped before the draft, Zillgitt notes. Griffin was said to be working on a Butler deal mere hours before his dismissal, and shortly thereafter, Butler was dealt to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Cleveland even failed to recruit Jamal Crawford after his buyout. James played an active role in reaching out to Crawford, Zillgitt reports, but the Cavaliers would only offer the veteran's minimum to Crawford since they were saving the mid-level exception for Osman. Crawford also ended up on the Timberwolves.
To make matters even worse for James, the Warriors not only retained all their star players, but also managed to add useful pieces. Kevin Durant took a discount to keep Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala, and there was still money leftover for Nick Young and Omri Casspi.