It has been eight years since LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, and he might be going back home now. James is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the coming days, and a certain Joshua Teplitz has heard he is going to the Cavaliers.
Teplitz had famously called James’ return to the Cavaliers in 2014 before any major news outlets had any idea about it, and he took to X on Thursday to share some good news for fans in Cleveland.
“Supposedly, LeBron IS coming back for a third and final stint with the Cavaliers,” Teplitz wrote. “Here we go.”
James, of course, began his NBA career with the Cavaliers. They selected the Akron native with the No. 1 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. James would spend the first seven seasons of his career with the Cavaliers, but grew frustrated towards the end of his time there. It was clear the team around him wasn’t good enough to win a title, and he decided to leave in 2010.
James headed to the Miami Heat, much to the dismay of everyone in Cleveland. He got a lot of hate for abandoning his hometown team and became public enemy No. 1.
The move did work out for James, as he went to four straight NBA Finals with the Heat, winning championships in 2012 and 2013. He then became a free agent in 2014, and Teplitz started tweeting about a return to Cleveland on July 3. A day later, on July 4, he declared that James would be a Cavalier.
“Natn’l media is about five steps behind on the whole story,” Teplitz wrote. “This will be my last tweet til it breaks: LeBron James is a Cleveland Cavalier.”
About a week later, on July 11, James announced he was returning to the Cavaliers, and all was forgiven. Teplitz, who was a personal fitness trainer at the time, later shared how he found out about this before everyone else.
“Yeah, but my source was a longtime friend of mine and was close to LeBron,” Teplitz said, via Cleveland.com. “I knew him through working out, and he actually approached me about it. He knew that I had a big social media following and gave me the info, knowing that I would put it out there.”
It could be this same friend again who has told Teplitz that James is coming back for his third stint with the Cavaliers. This latest post by Teplitz also came hours after ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that there hadn’t been much communication between James and the Lakers lately. There is no offer on the table presently.
All of this would have fans in Cleveland dreaming about the prodigal son returning home.
Brian Windhorst On A LeBron James-Cavaliers Reunion
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst is also an Akron native, and you’d imagine he wouldn’t mind seeing James return to the Cavaliers. Windhorst isn’t quite sure it will happen, though.
Windhorst had spoken about the Lakers being interested if the Cavaliers suggested a James-Jarrett Allen trade, and he was asked about it during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show on Thursday.
“What I was saying is that right now the Cavs can only offer LeBron 4 million bucks,” Windhorst said. “And one of the things that I’ve learned about LeBron is you never count his money and never spend his money, all right? So, making assumptions that LeBron would take a lot less money, I see people making that assumption, and I just don’t think it’s smart.
“Now, he may get there,” Windhorst continued. “He may get to a spot where he’s willing to take that kind of money, but he is still a max-level player. This is still one of the top 20 players in the NBA. And what I was saying is the only real way that I can see that the Cavs could get LeBron the money would be to do a trade with Jarrett Allen.
“That’s something that the Lakers would do,” Windhorst added. “But I don’t think that would improve the Cavs. I think if you give away your franchise center, I don’t see the pathway there.”
Windhorst can’t see James, who made $52.6 million in 2025-26, taking a massive pay cut, especially after playing as well as he did last season. The 41-year-old averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game in 2025-26.
James also led the Lakers past the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs. He might not actually be a max player now, but he’d be entitled to ask for a whole lot more than $4 million.
This means a sign-and-trade is likely the only way James ends up back in Cleveland. Windhorst just doesn’t see the Cavaliers parting with one of their key pieces for him, though.
So, is Teplitz about to get it wrong this time? We’ll find out soon enough.
