Now that LeBron James has made his decision, what happens?
Here’s a rundown of five things that could shape up around the NBA now that the King has returned home to Cleveland.
1. Miami picks up the pieces
Once James opted to head back home, it looked like Chris Bosh would soon follow suit and leave for Houston, where he would potentially fit into the best starting lineup in the NBA alongside Dwight Howard, James Harden, Chandler Parsons and Patrick Beverley.
Instead, though, Pat Riley ensured Bosh would remain with the Heat by giving him the five-year, $118 million max contract he was eligible to receive, which proved to be enough for Bosh to turn down Houston’s four-year max offer. Now Riley, coach Erik Spoelstra and the rest of the Heat front office will have to find a way to continue to re-tool, beginning with re-signing Dwyane Wade.
Houston, meanwhile, has a decision to make on Chandler Parsons, who signed a three-year, $46 million offer sheet with Dallas Thursday. The Rockets have until Sunday afternoon to match.
2. Kevin Love is back on the front burner
Now the most coveted player on the market will be a player who isn’t actually available. After months of speculation, the intensity around Love’s future in Minnesota is sure to heat up now that James is in Cleveland and the Cavaliers have loads of young assets to throw Minnesota’s way.
James didn’t mention first overall pick Andrew Wiggins in his letter explaining his decision published in Sports Illustrated, leading to some speculation he could headline a package to Minnesota for the All-Star power forward. The Celtics are another team with a lot of Love chatter — expect his next team to be a constant topic of discussion until he’s traded.
3. Secondary market finally opens up
The entire NBA essentially had been put on hold waiting for James to make his decision. Now that it’s happened, you’ll begin to see a flood of second-tier free agents — including Paul Pierce, Luol Deng, Pau Gasol and Trevor Ariza — begin to choose their destinations.
It should lead to a flurry of moves over the next 72 hours, as teams scramble to put their plans into action now that James is off the market.
4. Where do the Lakers turn?
The league’s flagship franchise went into this offseason with more than $30 million in cap room and hopes of luring both James and Carmelo Anthony to Hollywood. But with James off the market and Anthony likely to return to the Knicks — and, if not the Knicks, the Bulls — it’s hard to see where the Lakers go from here.
They are the landing spot for Jeremy Lin, whom the Rockets needed to move in a cost-cutting maneuver to sign Bosh, and will likely do what they did last summer — sign players to short-term deals to keep their long-term cap space open.
But that isn’t going to please Kobe Bryant, who surely will make noise about the lack of improvement by the Lakers if they don’t get a good player to play alongside him in the coming weeks.
5. What happens to Lance Stephenson?
The most fascinating case of this year’s free agency class is Brooklyn-born Lance Stephenson. After blossoming into a key contributor with the Pacers over the last two seasons, the combustible swingman is an unrestricted free agent with an uncertain market.
Stephenson has the talent to deserve a max contract, but his personality could prevent him from getting one. Assuming Utah matches the offer sheet Gordon Hayward signed with Charlotte and Houston does the same with Parsons, Stephenson could attract significant interest from the Bulls, Lakers, Mavericks and Hornets in addition to the Pacers.