







NEW YORK – As a Western Conference contender disassembled out of frugality and panic on Wednesday, Miami Heat star LeBron James should've been recalibrating the realities of the free-agent frenzy awaiting him in 2014. For him, the economics of the sport keep reaffirming that three's a crowd now, that James will have to choose a partnership with one superstar teammate.

The Super Friends scenarios are gone, replaced with the NBA's vision of talent spreading out to the have-nots. James Harden leaves Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook for Houston. And months before it was necessary to do so, before the Memphis Grizzlies could make a run in the Western Conference playoffs, they moved Rudy Gay to Toronto and out of Zach Randolph's and Marc Gasol's lives.

James has helped to make it so profitable to be an NBA owner that Robert Pera bought the Grizzlies, hired a front office of novices, ran out a successful scouting staff and began to unload genuine assets for pennies on the dollar. Just recently, James tweeted, "What the hell we have lockout for?" upon learning of the $525 million selling price of the Sacramento Kings.

Why? Simple: The NBA's owners wanted to break up the super teams and create a system that'll assure Pera can mismanage the Grizzlies into oblivion and still make money on the enterprise. The max contract system makes James the most underpaid athlete on the planet, and soon it will do something else, too: It makes most precarious his future with the Miami Heat.

[Related: Grizzlies trade Rudy Gay to Raptors in three-team deal]

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James' agent and childhood friend, Rich Paul, born and raised and still living in Cleveland, has been privately telling people for two years of his intrigue with bringing the prodigal son back as the conquering hero in Cleveland. James will ultimately make the call to return – just like he made it to leave – rest assured that the most important voices in his ear will be partial to Cleveland again.

Klutch Sports – Paul's new agency – calls Cleveland home. And its client, Tristan Thompson, would assuredly benefit with an eventual rich contract extension should Paul deliver James back to the Cavaliers.

"Riley has never given them the run of the place in Miami," one high-level associate of James' inner-circle said, "and they could all be back in business together in Cleveland. For Rich and [business manager] Maverick [Carter], they all see the benefits of getting the credit for bringing LeBron home again."

As significant as sentiment could play into the possibility of James returning to the Cavaliers, there's an understanding that as Dwyane Wade pushes into his 30s, past his prime, Cleveland's Kyrie Irving will emerge as the planet's preeminent point guard in two years.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Nets' Reggie Evans disputed the legitimacy of the Heat's shortened lockout-season championship on Wednesday morning, declaring James a comparable talent to the Nets' Joe Johnson. That didn't turn out too well for Brooklyn on Wednesday night. James marched into the Barclays Center and dismantled the Nets with 24 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in a 105-85 victory.

"No one knows what it takes until you've done it," James said. "He hasn't done it."

[Related: Toronto pays steep price for Rudy Gay]

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