Reports: LeBron James signs two-year contract with Cleveland Cavaliers

LeBron James was outstanding in the NBA finals but could not lead his team to the championship. Photograph: Kevin C Cox/Getty Images

LeBron James will saddle up again for the Cleveland Cavaliers after agreeing a two-year contract with the team, according to ESPN. The deal is understood to be worth up to $46.9m, with the second year a player option.

James had not talked to any other teams during free agency, and was never expected to leave his hometown team. Rather, any negotiations on James’s part are to maintain flexible contracts to take advantage of rising salary caps.

The move reaffirms James’s target of winning an NBA championship with the Cavaliers. He came agonizingly close last month, as the Cavs went down 4-2 to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals. The last two times James was a free agent he moved teams – from the Cavaliers to Miami Heat in 2010 before a return to Cleveland in 2014.

Another of the Cavaliers’ stars, Kevin Love, says his new five-year, $113.2m contract with the team is “inked and official”. Love said he had met with James before free agency to discuss the team’s future, with forward Tristan Thompson also expected to complete a deal in the coming days.
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“I expressed this to LeBron and he’d been through it a couple of times now — I can actually go wherever I want and pick the team I want to play for,” Love said on Thursday.

“But every time I went through the different scenarios I always came out at the same place, and that was to be in Cleveland and try to win championships. I would be able to really help this team win and going forward make a very big impact on this team and on this city, trying to bring a championship or championships.”