Lakers Free Agency: LeBron James opts out of Cavaliers contract, will 'wait to see' how free agency plays out

LeBron James has offiically opted out of his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, notifying the team he will become an unrestricted free agent this summer, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN. This is an expected outcome for the Cavaliers, who've been prepared for both James and Kevin Love to decline their player options for the '15-16 season in order to restructure their contracts.

James is still expected to re-sign with Cleveland, but plans on waiting until after the first weeks of July to "see how the team's free agency plays out," according to Windhorst. The Cavaliers have several decisions to make with their roster, and the impending free agency of both Tristan Thompson and Love is one of the most important points of Cleveland's summer, aside from re-signing LeBron. The Los Angeles Lakers are said to be one of several teams interested in meeting with Love.

There have been no reports of James meeting with any other team once free agency officially begins. Every team, including the Lakers, would undoubtedly love to sign him this summer, but every indication points to this being nothing more than an opportunity for James to sign a new deal that will take the NBA's looming salary cap burst into consideration.

Yes, LeBron James is a free agent and can sign anywhere he wants. No, there's no anticipation that he'll look at taking his talents elsewhere after dragging an injury-riddled Cavaliers team through a competitive NBA Finals. What will be interesting is to see how Cleveland approaches it's roster while James waits to see the smoke settle.