LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony are the two biggest free agents this offseason and the Cleveland Cavaliers are reportedly trying to sign both of them. Both Sam Amico and Brian Windhorst have said that the Cavs are thinking big with the intention of clearing enough space in the salary cap to put Carmelo and LeBron on the same team.
While dissecting draft options, sources say Cavs also exploring options on how to house LeBron, Carmelo and Kyrie under salary cap.
— Sam Amico (@SamAmicoFSO) June 24, 2014
Kyrie Irving's contract shouldn't be a big concern in trying to fit Anthony and James on the roster. If the Cavs' front office somehow managed to get both players, Kyrie would obviously sign a max extension as well. However, Kyrie's extension would not kick in until the 2015-16 season. Cleveland has some very moveable contracts and it shouldn't be *that* difficult to get enough room to sign LeBron and Melo. Of course, that's not the only obstacle. Cleveland would also have to convince those two players to come to the team. That part figures to be a lot more difficult.
LeBron has some obvious ties to Cleveland, but there doesn't seem to be much indication that Carmelo Anthony and his family would be particularly excited to move from New York City to Ohio.
In addition to the Cavs, ESPN reports that the Atlanta Hawks and Los Angeles Lakers will also try to put Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James on the same team.
Sources told ESPN.com on Tuesday that the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks are among the teams mulling potential trades designed to clear enough cap space to be able to recruit the two stars and close friends.
The Los Angeles Lakers, meanwhile, had begun exploring such machinations even before the opt outs of James and Anthony had become known, according to ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne.
Of course, I don't expect this to happen at all. But it's an interesting fantasy that could be pretty cool to think about.