Cavs didn’t plan on third LeBron return. Might one come, anyway?

When LeBron James left the Cavaliers for the second time in 2018, the franchise basically collapsed overnight.

At least internally, people around the organization now admit as much.

“When LeBron left, we just fell flat on our faces because we just weren’t rooted in anything,” one team source told ESPN. “We were just rooted in the culture of LeBron.”

And honestly, the results backed that up.

The Cavs missed the playoffs four straight years after James departed for the Los Angeles Lakers. The rebuild felt messy early on. Directionless at times too.

Then things slowly started changing.

Cleveland acquired Jarrett Allen from the Nets, drafted Evan Mobley and eventually swung the blockbuster trade for Donovan Mitchell. The Cavs haven’t missed the playoffs since Mitchell arrived.

“One play-in game” in four years without Mitchell, another source told ESPN. “Four playoff appearances” with him.

That’s not accidental.

The Cavs also doubled down on winning this season by trading Darius Garland to the Los Angeles Clippers for James Harden, pushing Cleveland’s luxury-tax bill to nearly $69 million. It marked the first time owner Dan Gilbert paid the tax since LeBron’s departure.

The goal, according to ESPN, has been building sustainable success without planning around a third James return.

But now comes the fascinating part.

LeBron becomes a free agent this summer for the first time since 2018. League sources continue connecting Cleveland and James because, frankly, the fit makes a lot of sense on paper.

A lineup featuring Harden, Mitchell, James, Mobley and Allen? Yeah, that would probably get everyone’s attention pretty quickly.

Especially if the Cavs fall short against the Knicks after falling behind 0-2 in the Eastern Conference finals.

At age 41, James remains one of the NBA’s most impactful players. Whether he stays with the Lakers, returns home again or retires altogether may end up becoming the biggest storyline of the offseason.