LeBron James: Cavaliers Were In ‘Consideration’ During Free Agency

Fedor notes that James’ agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, confirmed that the Cavs were the only team James met with in July during his 25 days on the free agent market. They sent a contingent to James’ home made up of president of basketball operations Koby Altman, vice president of business operations Grant Gilbert and now-general manager Brandon Weems, a childhood friend of James, to discuss what it would take to bring him back to Cleveland.

“The nature of the meeting, I probably won’t discuss much, but it was consideration for sure,” James told reporters after Thursday’s game. “I mean, that’s a team trying to build toward the championship and things of that nature. I was trying to decide where I wanted to go with the rest of my career, to finish my career or whatever the case may be, the next step, and there was a lot of consideration for sure.”

Cleveland and Philadelphia were finalists in James’ latest decision, along with Minnesota, Miami and Golden State. Fedor reveals that multiple members of the Cavaliers organization believed James was leaning toward a homecoming, including Donovan Mitchell, who was involved in the recruitment.

Mitchell admitted at media day that he was surprised that James chose Philadelphia, saying he thought the Warriors would be the pick if he didn’t become a Cavalier again.

James mentioned Cleveland in a Twitter post after announcing his decision, writing, “Northeast Ohio will always [be] home!”

After missing out on James, the Cavs altered their offseason strategy, bringing Mario Hezonja back to the NBA after six years in the EuroLeague and trading for Peyton Watson to fill a hole at small forward.

Meeting with reporters before Thursday’s game, coach Kenny Atkinson discussed the highs and lows of the James pursuit.

“You’re anticipating. You’re excited. You’re expecting something to happen, and it doesn’t happen and that first day or two you’re just like depressed, quite honestly,” he said. “That’s the emotions of it. I loved how quickly we switched gears and the push to get Peyton in the fold and everything we had to do to do that. It was a complicated maneuver. Dan Gilbert and Koby, they’re aggressive. They don’t stand pat. We take risks. We take swings. It was a great switch to what was a tough blow for us in the beginning.”