In 2015, LeBron James returned back home to Cleveland to bring the Cavaliers a long-awaited championship. Although he failed to succeed in 2015, James accomplished his goal in 2016, despite losing again in 2017.

Last summer, James signed a three-year, $99.8 million deal with the Cavaliers with a player option on the final year. It’s expected that James will opt out of the deal in 2018 to become an Unrestricted Free Agent again, and many people around the league now feel that James is ‘likely’ to leave Cleveland to join the Los Angeles Lakers or Los Angeles Clippers.

LeBron James’ journey to the West coast?

In his latest ‘The Vertical’ podcast, Adrian Wojnarowski stated that there is “no guarantee” James would remain in Cleveland.

“I think within Cleveland and around the league, they feel that he’s very much in play to leave again and likely to head out West to one of the two L.A. teams. The Lakers could very well be a target,” Wojnarowski said.

Wojnarowski also added that there is a small chance that James returns to Miami as well, if Dwyane Wade would go back there. However, LeBron’s business interests are in Los Angeles, where he would be closer to Hollywood and would be under the Los Angeles spotlight in the twilight years of his career.

Years ago, James implied that he would take a pay cut to play with his buddies Wade, Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony. Since he already fulfilled his promise to Cleveland by bringing the city a championship, it is inevitable that he leaves again.

“The minute he won that championship in Cleveland he was liberated to leave again,” Wojnarowski continued.

How can James construct a big four with Paul, Anthony, and Wade?

The most interesting thing is making this whole ordeal work in LeBron’s favor. The stars could very easily align with the Clippers -- here’s what needs to happen.

First, Paul would need to re-sign a one-plus-one deal with the Clippers, which would give him the option to become a free agent in 2018.

Meanwhile, Wade must exercise his player option to remain in Chicago for one more year and then become an unrestricted free agent in 2018.

As for Anthony, there is no telling whether the New York Knicks would trade him this offseason, but wherever he goes, he nonetheless has an early termination option for the 2018-2019 season. He could very simply terminate the final year of his contract and join free agency with James in 2018 as well. Therefore, all four stars could then take a pay cut and play for the Clippers.

Obviously, a lot could change over the course of the year, but the LeBron James rumors gaining such traction over the past week should worry Cleveland.
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