Report: LeBron won’t waive no-trade clause

Lebron James

(Reuters) If any teams had hopes of prying LeBron James from the Cleveland Cavaliers before tomorrow’s trade deadline, it seems they can disregard that possibility.

According to a report from Yahoo’s Shams Charania, James will not waive his no-trade clause and is committed to seeing this season through with the Cavs, despite their recent struggles.

Cleveland has lost 12 of its last 18 games and in danger of slipping to fourth in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs are currently 5 1/2 games back of the No. 2 seed and 7 1/2 back of the conference’s top seed. James has the option to become a free agent this offseason, fueling speculation that he’ll leave Cleveland for the second time in his career, without the Cavs receiving anything in return.

Per Charania, the Cavaliers have been looking to buy at the deadline and have not talked with James about the idea of rebuilding, which would mean trading away core players.

James would be due $35.6 million in 2018-19 if he opts into the final year of a three-year, $100 million pact signed in August of 2016.

The 33-year-old is averaging 26.3 points, 8.7 assists and 8.0 rebounds per game across 51 games in his 15th NBA season.