So if not the Cavs, is there any team with a reasonable shot of lassoing the soon-to-be 41 year old this season?

Frankly, it would be preposterous for any franchise to trade for King James given his salary, his age and what it would take to acquire him, and — further complicating the issue — his no-trade clause gives him veto power for anywhere he doesn’t view as a fit.

LBJ’s most likely path back to C.Town once again (or to a fourth career organization for that matter) would be to ride out El Niño in the subtropical waters of the Pacific Coast while counting his money this year, then making clear that whichever contending team drafts his son Bryce in 2026 would have the inside track to ink Benjamin Buckets as an unrestricted free agent for cheap.

This strategy would also serve to make certain his second born gets drafted, as it seemed to with respect to Bronny a year ago. He then gets to spend a year or two playing on the same team with Bryce as well.

The Cavaliers do happen to have a second-round pick in their 2026 draft billfold (and a first, but let’s not run down the street naked). And particularly if they haven’t gotten over the playoff hump by that time, it’d be a sensational homecoming for the Chosen One to help bring another Larry O’Brien Trophy to Northeast Ohio.

—@PoisonPill4