By James H. Williams

Update (July 12):

LeBron James signed a 2-year deal worth $42.1 million. He can opt out after 1-year with team according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

LeBron is expecting the salary cap to jump massively in 2016, James aims to re-sign at that time. Fully committed to Cavs long term.

— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) July 12, 2014

 

Update (July 11):

(8:01 p.m. ET)

“No one can fault another person for wanting to return home,” Pat Riley said following the decision of James.

(12:30 p.m. ET)

LeBron James will return to the Cleveland Cavaliers according to SI.com. James, who spent  the last four seasons with the Miami Heat, was drafted by the Cavaliers in 2003 NBA Draft with the No. 1 overall pick.

 “Who am I to hold a grudge?,” James said.

LeBron James in 4 years w/ Heat: •4 NBA Finals •2 NBA Titles •2 MVPs •2 Finals MVPs •26.9 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 6.7 APG pic.twitter.com/GspDFvxr0W

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 11, 2014

Chris Bosh, who went to Miami with James in 2010 following a stint with the Toronto Raptors, will sign a max contract to play for the Houston Rockets.

3:49 p.m. ET

LeBron James appears to part ways with Dwyane Wade after landing in Miami. Footage has surfaced of a brief conversation and the body language the two players had at the airport.

12:17 p.m. ET

Wade is reportedly on the plane with LeBron according to Adrian Wojnarowski.

Dwyane Wade expected to be on a flight back to Miami with LeBron James tonight, league sources told Yahoo. They had been together in Vegas.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 11, 2014

 

12:09 p.m. ET – LeBron James is headed to Miami prior to his trip to Brazil. James will be in Brazil to watch the finals of the World Cup. He spent most of Thursday in Las Vegas for his basketball camp that featured some of the top high school players in the country. Dwyane Wade was also seen visiting the camp.

 

UPDATE (July 10):

LeBron James’ representatives contacted the Cleveland police to alert them of a celebration that is expected to follow an announcement from LeBron tonight, according to Phil Trexler of the Akron Beacon Journal. 

Hunch in Bath Twp. is that LBJ’s coming home, all things are positive. Still nothing official, but police told to “be prepared.” #kingjames

— PHIL TREXLER-ABJ (@PhilTrexler) July 10, 2014

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LeBron James is expected to announce his return to the Cleveland Cavaliers on his website July 10th, according to Chris Sheridan.

James has spent the last four seasons as a member of the Miami Heat, following his July 8, 2010 announcement to leave the Cavaliers after seven seasons. During this time in Miami, the Heat appeared in the NBA Finals four straight times while winning two NBA championships.

While teams have been able to speak with free agents since July 1^st, LeBron took a different approach to the free agency period and had teams talk to his agent to show their interest in James, including the Cavs.

James had his first and only reported in-person meeting of the free agency period July 9^th with Heat’s President Pat Riley. There were also reports of James having met with Dwyane Wade on July 8.

If he is leaving for Cleveland, it is possible that James had used the meetings to inform both Riley and Wade of his decision.

While it is unknown if there has been any recent communication between James and Chris Bosh, it has been reported that if James does leave Miami, Bosh will sign the max contract offer he has received from the Houston Rockets.

Chris Bosh has decided to sign with Rockets if LeBron James leaves Heat. (via @Chris_Broussard & @WindhorstESPN) pic.twitter.com/ytLpjL33cl

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 10, 2014

 

The Cavs’ are currently able to offer LeBron a max contract after the three team trade made with the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets on July 9^th.

The Cavaliers received the draft rights to Ilkan Karaman and Edin Bavcic as part of the trade. The Celtics received Marcus Thornton, Tyler Zeller and Cleveland’s 2016 first round pick. The Nets received Jarrett Jack and Sergey Karasev.

Since LeBron’s departure from the Cavaliers, the team has had the first overall draft pick in the NBA draft three times in which the team selected, Kyrie Irving (2011), Anthony Bennett (2013), and Andrew Wiggins (2014).

During the 2012 NBA Draft, Cleveland drafted Dion Waiters with the fourth overall pick.

Irving was given a five-year contract extension worth $90 million on July 1.

 

For the latest news on NBA free agency click here