LeBron, the Third Option?
By Joshua Bishop
All throughout the NBA, teams are preparing for LeBron James’ upcoming free-agency. The Cleveland Cavaliers have had a less than spectacular season, filled with drama and overpaid veterans not contributing much to the Cavaliers cause. So, in an effort to remind James that he could have it better elsewhere, fans have been putting up various billboards in an effort to attract James to their franchises.
On April 2nd, pictures began to surface of a billboard aimed at recruiting James just five minutes from the Moda Center in Portland. Earlier in the year, Blazers fans started a Go Fund Me page to raise $2,000, and that number was quickly reached thanks to wealthy celebrities from Portland pitching in.
The billboard read, “LEBRON, DAME NEEDS A THIRD OPTION.” Obviously, “Dame” refers to All-Star point guard Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers. Blazers fans fully enjoyed themselves with the billboard, telling the best player in the world he could play “third option” to Damian Lillard and (probably) C.J. McCollum.
While James is clearly better than both Lillard and McCollum, you have to love the fans’ loyalty to their two guards. Most fan bases would be happy to demote their best player or players to gain the services of the one and only LeBron James, but Portland showed in a special way that they were going to stick with their own guns before trading them in for James.
Whether or not the Blazers actually mean what they said on the billboard doesn’t really matter; James will not be joining the Blazers during this coming summer. James has made it clear that he will demand a max contract despite his age, and the Blazers are already shelling out at least $110,456,026 in the coming season. There simply isn’t enough cap room to sign a player of James’ caliber, who Vardon projects will be offered a five-year max contract valued at about $207 million during this summer’s free-agency.
Nonetheless, the billboard gives Blazers fans a good laugh and a small piece of hope. Like the great Lloyd Christmas once said: “So, you’re telling me there’s a chance?”
