The Cavs Thought They Were Close To A Deal With LeBron James, But Now It Looks Like The Tide Is Turning

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LeBron James

Mike Stone/Reuters

On Thursday morning, two NBA insiders were saying that LeBron James was going to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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Twenty-four hours later, there has yet to be an announcement and the latest rumors suggest that the tide is turning away from him signing with Cleveland.

While we still don't know for certain what James will do, if he does ultimately pick the Heat over the Cavs, this will be devastating for a Cleveland fan base that has gotten its hopes up over the last few days.

Here are the latest rumors:

The Cavaliers thought they were close to a done deal.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Cavs "believed they were on the cusp of a commitment" from James.

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But then James left his basketball camp in Las Vegas and flew back to Miami with Dwyane Wade. The implication here is that Wade is making one last gasp to keep LeBron in South Beach, and it may be working.

For the last couple of days, the Cavs have been operating as if they were going to sign LeBron, clearing cap space and contacting potential free agents and trade targets to fill out a roster around James. According to the report, the Cavs were expecting a call from LeBron on Thursday, and it never came.

LeBron may be having second thoughts because of a scathing letter written by the owner of the Cavs four years ago.

Chris Broussard of ESPN.com writes that "one reason, if not the major reason," LeBron is taking so long to make a decision is the infamous letter penned by Cavs owner Dan Gilbert back in 2010 when James took his talents to South Beach.

"If it wasn't for that letter, this would've been done awhile ago," the source told Broussard.

In that letter, which remained on NBA.com until last week, Gilbert mocked James and called him a "coward."

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Then there are rumors that may say something or nothing at all.

On Thursday, ESPN insider Chris Broussard was asked on SportsCenter what he thought the chances were of LeBron signing with the Cavs. He started the day at 75% and it eventually rose to 85%

Then he dropped this nugget on Twitter.

The Decision is expected soon.

James is expected to fly to the World Cup final this weekend (the match is on Sunday) and both the Heat and Cavs are expecting a decision before he leaves according to Wojnarowski.

Of course, the Cavs were expecting a decision yesterday also, and it never came.

In addition to crushing the hopes of the fans, if LeBron does not sign with the Cavs, he may have crushed the team as well. According to Wojnarowski, the Cavs were told to clear cap space to sign LeBron and they did, giving up a starting center and a 2016 lottery pick.

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The Cavs may have a back-up plan, but that is a steep price to pay without a commitment from LeBron.

What we do know at this point is that nobody knows what LeBron is going to do and that may even include LeBron.