I think it's nearly impossible to sign James. He has a no-trade clause. He wants the team he's traded to to have a shot at a championship, which means he doesn't want them giving up good pieces to acquire him. His contract is huge, and matching it means a team is going to have to throw in a lot of mediocre players to match. These two things mean that Cleveland's likely return is going to be a lot of overpaid players and maybe a prospect and a pick. Cleveland's roster is trash beyond James; only other player worth investing in long term is Love, and he couldn't lead an arguably more talented Minnesota team to the playoffs.
It's hard to see a way that Cleveland comes out ahead of letting James walk, trading Love, doing a hard tank and rebuilding around their pick next year plus their Brooklyn pick.
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