We can officially cross one team off the LeBron James list. That would be the Pacers.
Indiana general manager Chad Buchanan said the team made its pitch to James’ agent, Rich Paul, but has been informed enough about the situation to know that LeBron won’t be coming to Indianapolis.
“If you’re expecting the LeBron to Pacers announcement to come, it’s not coming,” Buchanan said during an appearance on the Setting The Pace podcast, via Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “I don’t want to break everybody’s hearts.”
That follows Tyrese Haliburton joking recently on the Mind The Game podcast about his own unsuccessful attempt to recruit James.
Apparently, the Pacers at least gave it a shot.
“Much respect to LeBron as a player, obviously, and to Rich Paul,” Buchanan said. “I think every team made their pitch to Rich as to their situation, what they could offer, as did we. We also know that he’s narrowed it down to some other teams.”
Buchanan added that he doesn’t know where James will ultimately land, though he has one preference.
“Hopefully he stays in the West,” he said. “I don’t know where he’s going to end up, but I can tell you it won’t be in Indiana, unfortunately.”
So there you have it. While the Cavaliers, Heat, 76ers and others continue to wait on James’ decision, the Pacers can officially move along with the rest of their offseason.
They weren’t generally viewed as a serious contender for James anyway. But in a LeBron free agency that has produced rumors involving just about everyone with an NBA franchise and access to the internet, we’ll take an actual team executive at his word.
The Pacers are out. At least somebody finally told us something.
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