MIAMI _ So you're saying they have a chance? That was the response in an ESPN poll of 48 players when it came to LeBron James and the chance of him returning to the Miami Heat in free agency this offseason.
Of those polled, 59 percent said they anticipate James would remain with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Second in the poll were the Los Angeles Lakers, at 22 percent, and then the Heat, at seven percent.
The Heat lack the salary-cap resources to sign James as a free agent and would face a difficult path to such maneuvering, with Tyler Johnson's salary to jump to $19.3 million next season.
To a second question of "Where should LeBron sign in the offseason?" 66 percent said the Cavaliers, with the Heat and Lakers then tying for second at eight percent.
Another question in the survey was, "Which player do you think LeBron should pair up with?" Heat guard Dwyane Wade tied for the top of those responses along with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Chris Paul, at 12 percent.
James paired with Wade at the start of this season in Cleveland with uneven results, with the two having previously teamed to help the Heat to four consecutive NBA Finals, from 2011 to 2014, with titles in 2012 and '13. Wade has said this Heat reunion would represent his final NBA stop.
The ESPN survey also included the question, "Which team have you heard makes the best free-agent pitches?" The Heat, with 15 percent of the responses, finished second to the Boston Celtics' 27 percent.
In a companion piece, titled, "Destination LeBron," ESPN assessed the Heat's chances of potentially landing James, writing, "James already took his talents to South Beach once, winning two MVP awards and two titles, so could we be in for a Heatless reunion? Pat Riley and Dwyane Wade mended fences over their contentious breakup, so it's possible James and Riley could do the same. Plus, by staying in the East, James would avoid the Warriors until the Finals."
That same piece, however, cited the Heat's limited salary-cap means for such a gambit.
