LeBron James is lauded for his ability to think out the game of basketball, with an uncanny ability to anticipate plays before they happen and recall moments long after the final horn.
But James' brain power extends far beyond the court, as is made more apparent when looking back on his free-agency decision and the Cleveland Cavaliers' offseason. In this Internet age, it figures the banner moment of James' master plan came when he went to Instagram to recognize his teammates, posting photos of projected starters and role players. It started long before then, however.
From the onset of free agency, James had a clear approach. He thought this out. He was going to keep quiet, allow the process to mature and move on to the Cavaliers. His shortened deal, which was a measure to take advantage of the imminent TV deal renewal, would only last for two seasons and lead to a bigger payday.
We saw this from James before. Back in 2010, James put together a full-fledged plan prior to choosing the Miami Heat in the roundly panned Decision broadcast. As flawed as the idea might have been, thought went into it — and it netted four NBA Finals appearances and two titles.
James was smarter this time. And while head coach David Blatt and general manager David Griffin no doubt played a part, James had a huge hand in recruiting players to Cleveland. One look is enough to notice James' imprint all over the Cavaliers roster.
Given the fact that Cleveland won only 33 games last season, James was aware moves needed to be made. The Cavaliers had an upstart backcourt in Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters, along with valuable frontcourt pieces in Anderson Verejao and Tristan Thompson. But they also had consecutive No. 1 picks on the roster in Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett.
It was clear to the outside that Wiggins, Bennett or both could be used as assets to pad a roster in need of an overhaul to compete in the Eastern Conference and perform at the level James expects.
If you read the tea leaves, one can assume James had the same thought. James reached out to Irving and Waiters before there was ink on his new two-year, $42.1 million contract, while Wiggins and Bennett were left in the dark. In fact, each player will move on to Minnesota without speaking one word to James.
There was a feeling that we, the general public, might have jumped the gun in assuming there was some significance to James' omission of Wiggins and Bennett from the SI essay announcing his plans to join the Cavaliers. But that doesn't seem like much of a coincidence now.
This was just another sign of James' foresight. Perhaps mentioning Wiggins and Bennett might have been the politically correctly thing to do, but the omission left the door open. In essence, James set trade rumors in motion without lifting a single finger or saying a single word.
With James in place and the wheels turning on a deal to acquire Kevin Love, the dominos started to fall.
James favorites Mike Miller and James Jones were added and Shawn Marion soon followed. Although Marion met with the Indiana Pacers, he did not sign on to fill the void left by Paul George's compound fracture. In fact, Grantland's Jalen Rose said during an Aug. 22 podcast that Marion informed him of his intentions to sign with Cleveland long before it was announced.
The final piece fell in place on Aug. 23, when Love became an official member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. At the that point, all had gone according to plan.
These moves leave Cleveland with a veteran roster and an embarrassment of riches on the offensive end entering the upcoming season, but, more importantly, it will have the most thoughtful player in the NBA.