Lebron's future

With 1 year remaining on the contract of arguably the best player in the NBA, it's time talk about what Lebron James will do after this season.

James signed a 100 million dollar endorsement deal with Nike straight out of High School, and has lived up to the hype surrounded by him, since he came into the league.

After being selected number 1 in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Lebron has become a superstar, averaging 27.5 points, seven rebounds and 6.6 assists in his 6-year career. He is a 5-time all-star, including two Olympic appearances, and has already lead the Cavs to the NBA Finals, in a losing effort to the Spurs in 2007. Since 2005, James has been selected to the All-Star and All-NBA teams every season. He was elected the NBA Most Valuable Player for the 2008-09 season.

With such an impressive resume, and still just 24-years old, Lebron will be a major free-agent, arguably the most desirable free-agent ever.

So what can the Cavs do to make sure they don't lose him?

Well it will be very hard to hold onto to "King James", especially with what other teams will be offering him. Allegedly the Knicks are already freeing up cap room to prepare to offer him a huge deal next season.

One thing Lebron wants more then anything is to win a championship. After averaging nearly half the Cavs points in the playoffs last season, it's quite obvious that the Cavs need to give their superstar some help.

Shaq was a good start for sure. Not only does he bring in a big presence under the hoop, but he also will take a bit of the media attention off of Lebron. While Lebron loves the spotlight, it will be a good thing for him to have some of the media pressure taken off of him, which is exactly what Shaq will do.

However, Shaq is 37-years-old and well past his prime. The Cavs need to bring in another big free-agent, or make a trade, to help out Lebron. If the Cavs do not give him the help he deserves, you may see him leave.

Lebron may also want to play for a bigger market. Lets face it, while Cleveland basically idolizes Lebron, they are still a smaller market team, something superstars like Lebron may not like. Playing in a place like New York, would make Lebron even bigger than he is now.

The last and most obvious reason Lebron may leave Cleveland is for money. Do the Cavs really have enough dough to dish out to keep him there? I think they will do everything in their power to make sure they do, but with teams like the Knicks already preparing to offer him a deal, who knows what type of money he could be seeing, maybe an A-Rod type contract?

Overall, I think it's still very up in the air.... In his heart he probably wants to stay with Cleveland his entire career, but with lots of temptations out their for him, the Cavs would be smart to try and sign him before next season is over, though that may be impossible.