National Basketball Association

LeBron James' new Cavs contract reportedly includes a very rare clause

Published Nov. 15, 2016 3:12 p.m. ET

Andrew Lynch

What are the odds that the Cleveland Cavaliers would ever try to trade LeBron James?

Short of LeBron being abducted by aliens and replaced by a reasonable facsimile, there's basically no chance that the Cavs would want to part ways with the most important player in franchise history. And it seems as if the feeling is mutual.

According to multiple reports, LeBron's new contract with the Cavs — which will reportedly pay him $100 million over three seasons — includes a no-trade clause. It's the first time in his career that LeBron has held such an option with the team, and one of the few times he's been eligible for such a deal. Last season, six players reportedly had no-trade clauses in their deals: Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade.

As Yahoo's Bobby Marks points out, players are only eligible for no-trade clauses after playing eight years in the league and for at least four years with their current team, which ruled out LeBron having a no-trade clause with the Heat.

While LeBron has only been back in Cleveland for the past two seasons, his previous time with the team counts toward that four-year requirement.

Seriously, though, it's almost impossible to envision a scenario where the Cavs would want to trade LeBron in the first place. He'd have to suffer an injury so catastrophic that there would be no chance that he'd ever come back to the game of basketball. Even then, LeBron would probably just retire and move into a role with Cleveland's front office rather than leave the Cavs once again.

The only way we could see LeBron being traded is if he demanded a move — and that would take things going completely sideways in Cleveland. We're talking about ownership suffering a scandal so severe that Dan Gilbert has to sell the team, plus multiple star players either deciding they don't want to play for the Cavs or suffering catastrophic injuries of their own. Add the entire state catching on fire in a freak accident, and maybe LeBron would want to play somewhere else.

Maybe.