We had a good feeling this was coming, but Friday morning it became official; LeBron James will not exercise his player option for next season, thus becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Even though just about everyone predicted this would happen, it's significant for a few reasons.
For starters, this doesn't mean LeBron is leaving Cleveland because as we've seen in the past, the opt-out is to get a bigger contract.
As Brian Windhorst tweeted, though, LeBron becoming an unrestricted free agent helps the Lakers and hurts the Rockets.
If LeBron wants to go to Houston, we're sure there's a way they'll clear cap space to make it happen, but the fact that he's a free agent now probably means he's going to want more than his $35.6 million option he turned down.
The Lakers have a lot of cap space, so LeBron becoming an unrestricted free agent only helps them in their pursuit to sign him.
The #LeBronWatch will be on until he signs, but the fact that he'll become an unrestricted free agent only makes things more interesting.
(H/T: Brian Windhorst)
