Cleveland Cavaliers Star LeBron James Will Not Waive His No-Trade Clause this Season
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a mess right now. But, at least their best player is not going to abandon them in the middle of the season.
Following their 116-98 loss to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night, LeBron James confirmed that he will not waive his no-trade clause, and he said he intends to stay with the team, at least until the end of the season.
"I'm here for this season right now, [to] try to figure out ways we can still compete," James said after the game on Tuesday, via ESPN.
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"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," he continued.
The Cavaliers are currently in a state of disarray, and they seemingly have no chemistry at all as they continue to drop games to inferior teams like the Magic. But, these issues are fixable.
At any rate, James' legacy will be tainted if he ditches the Cavaliers while they are on the verge of free-falling down the standings. And, as noted by Bobby Marks in his column for ESPN, a deal involving James was unlikely anyway because teams do not want to gut their roster to acquire someone who was likely going to leave by the end of the season.
James is averaging 26.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 8.6 assists, 1.6 steals, and one block in under 37 minutes per game this season, and he is shooting 54.3 percent from the field, 35.3 percent from beyond the arc, and 74.8 percent from the free-throw stripe.
