Lebron says he’ll consider contract extension with Cavs

With a number of bottom feeders like the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets doing everything possible to clear up room under the salary cap, LeBron James threw a wild card into the mix of teams hoping to lure him to sign should he become a free agent in 2010.  James suggested on Sunday that he’s going to explore the option of signing a long term extension with Cleveland in the off-season and not opt out after the 2009-2010 season.

The conventional wisdom is that the NBA’s biggest and most marketable superstar would want to play in a bigger market than Cleveland, Ohio.  The most frequently mentioned suitor for James’ services are the New York Knicks, who’ve cleaned house not only to start fresh after the disastrous tenure of Isiah Thomas but to put themselves in a position to offer James as much money as possible to bring his game to “The Big Apple”.    New Jersey is also implementing a similar strategy, hoping that their planned move to Brooklyn will make them an attractive candidate—plus LeBron is good friends with Nets co-owner Jay-Z.   The Chicago Bulls will also have significant cap room in the summer of 2010 and are considered a dark horse to land “Bron Bron”.

LeBron, however, could leave them all “all dressed up with nowhere to go”.  He’s maintained that his biggest priority is to be in a situation where he can make a run at Michael Jordan’s fistful plus one of NBA championship rings.  He reportedly couldn’t be happier with how things are shaping up in Cleveland, and their record to date provides evidence of just how close the team is to seriously contending for a title—with the Boston Celtics opening the season with a franchise record winning run (and the term “franchise record” is pretty significant when you’re talking about the Boston Celtics) and threatening to post the best start in league history, the Cavs are still right there in the rear view mirror.  Boston is 26-2, while Cleveland is 23-4.

So with a competitive team and a good relationship with coach Mike Brown, LeBron has indicated for the first time that he might not be so easily lured by the big city lights on Manhattan.  He broke the news in comments to the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper:

"You play out this season of course; I will consider it. The direction we are headed is everything I expected and more. I definitely want to keep an open mind, I will look at everything [The extension] is a good point. I think me and my group have pretty much made good decisions so far and we'll look at the options and go from there."

While there will be plenty of other high profile free agents on the market in 2009-2010, the big prize could already be spoken for.