LeBron James: ‘I would never waive my no-trade clause’

LeBron says he owes it to his teammates to finish the season in Cleveland, no matter how it ends.

Things are so bad in Cleveland that reporters have questioned whether LeBron James would waive his no-trade clause and seek a new home before the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline. And when he was asked about it after an embarrassing 116-98 loss to the Orlando Magic — an 18-point loss after the Cavaliers built a 21-point first-half lead — James shot that idea down with fury.

“I’m here for the long haul,” he said, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I’m here for this season right now, [to] try to figure out ways we can still compete. I couldn’t give up on my teammates like that. I couldn’t do that. I just couldn’t do it. We put too much into the game every single day. We go out and prepare. Win, lose or draw, at the end of the day, we’re all brothers, and we understand that. I owe it to my teammates to finish this season out no matter how it ends up. I would never waive my no-trade clause.”

Well, duh

Obviously LeBron would never waive his no-trade clause to bolt town mid-season. Not only has he built his legacy on bringing a championship to Cleveland and positioning the team for a second, but he’s made a bunch of boss moves in his career. Ditching your teammates when the going gets tough is not a boss move.

Could he even be traded?

LMAO. Ha! Good one. The answer’s basically no.

LeBron signed a three-year, $100 million contract in 2016. His salary this season alone is roughly $33.3 million. Few players make $30 million annually in the NBA, and even fewer of those players are remotely as valuable as LeBron. We hashed out a few totally serious, definitely feasible LeBron trade options back in August. Cavs’ management could consider those options if they’re looking for a total rebuild.

Here is one of them:

But the fact that we’re even here says a lot

LeBron James is the end-all, be-all of a Cavaliers team pushing for its fourth straight NBA Finals appearance. Cleveland has had its fair share of mid-season meltdowns in the past, but we’ve never seen anything like this. The Cavaliers are 6-10 since the Jan. 1 and are now tied with the Wizards for the No. 4 seed in the East. No LeBron James team has finished lower than second since he joined the Miami Heat in 2011.

The Cavaliers have their problems, some of which are fixable and others that are not. But they need to fix those problems, and fast, if they’re going to make another championship run. Because at the rate Cleveland is going now, LeBron’s going to be asked about more than just a no-trade clause at the end of this season.

And the last time he had to answer those kinds of questions, well, we all remember how that played out.