Filed under: Cavaliers, Heat, Knicks, NBA Rumors, NBA Transactions
If New York tries to wrangle LeBron James this July and fails, the Knicks can go after any one of a number of other NBA stars expected to be free agents.If Cleveland fails in keeping LeBron, though? It's just about completely screwed ... in terms of the free agent market, that is.
While Miami, hoping to keep a star free agent of its own, has scheduled cap space in excess of Dwyane Wade's projected salary, Cleveland does not. By trading the expiring contract of Zydrunas Ilgauskas to Washington for Antawn Jamison, the Cavaliers removed any chance for substantial cap space this summer.
If LeBron opts out of his contract and signs directly with another team, such as New York or Miami, the Cavs will have roughly $6 million in cap space. As this is less than the combined value of the mid-level exception and biennial veteran's exception, the Cavs would be treated as a team over the cap space (unless it renounces both exceptions).
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