LeBron James has opted to stay with the Cleveland Cavaliers, signing a three-year deal with his beloved hometown team, a decision the all-time leading scorer of the team is very happy about.
"I can't be more excited than this opportunity once again to defend our crown, defend our title. We all know last year as a magical, inspiring," James said in a clip (via Uninterrupted).
"All the words you can come up with – it was an unbelievable season," the NBA All-Star went on to say. He even a posted of the photo of himself signing the deal.
For his first year in the new $100 million contract, James will be paid $31 million while the second year, he will get a total of $33 million. His third year comes with player option.
These payrolls make him the highest paid superstar in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and in a single season history of the league, even topping Michael Jordan's $33 million in the 1997-98 season.
James will host the training camp workouts for the Cavaliers this September to prepare his team early. The workouts are expected to begin by Labor Day, as per Cleveland.com.
Meanwhile, the fate of J.R. Smith in Cleveland is still unknown with the team yet to re-sign the 30-year-old. Smith has expressed interest to be back with the Cavs, but nothing official has been settled yet.
With the training camp set to begin, there's a possibility that Smith will remain a free agent as James starts to bring the team back together in California especially with the nature of the deal he is trying to make happen.
"Yikes... hearing JR Smith seeking huge deal to return to Cavs, in the $15m per year range. Can Cavs really pass on bringing him back?" Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders tweeted out.
It is believed that the amount might be too much even for Smith. However, Hoops Habit says that Cleveland might not have any other choice but have him back.
Putting Iman Shumpert at the starter with Mo Williams, Mike Dunleavy and Jordan McRae backing him up won't generate the same result with Smith taking the charge.
That being said, the Cavs might bring Smith back. However, they have to do so now as they would not want him to miss training camp.
