Will LeBron’s Movie Delay His Timeframe?

Will LeBron James‘ summer movie delay the timeframe on when he signs?

Brian Windhorst, the Cleveland Plain Dealer beat writer who may be closer to James than any other reporter in the nation, says the delays in casting James’ movie could push his impending free agency decision “past the 15th [of July].”

The film — originally called “Fantasy Basketball Camp” and now named “Ballers” — will begin filming in “late August,” James told Larry King in the CNN interview that airs Friday.

James plays the head of a camp who gets involved in the lives of “some averages Joes living out their basketball dreams,” according to the Plain Dealer.

James told King they are “older guys…who wish they could be LeBron James or Kobe Bryant, but they come to my camp and, you know, they have a lot of the same privileges as the NBA guys. So it’s going to be fun.”

Brian Grazer (“A Beautiful Mind”) will produce and Malcolm D. Lee (“Undercover Brother”) will direct, according to the Plain Dealer.

Windhorst says the casting of the movie has been delayed which could, in turn, push back the time when James makes a decision on where he’ll end up.

“He said he’s not going to start filming it until late August,” Windhorst said Thursday in an interview on ESPN 1050. “He was initially planned to film in July and I thought if his call date to start filming…was closer to mid-July, I thought for sure he would have all of his basketball business wrapped up because this movie is important to him.

“He has decided not to play for Team USA this summer essentially to film this movie, which I predict will be terrible. And now he’s saying that they’re having trouble casting…This thing with LeBron, no one’s going to probably move too  much until LeBron decides.”

Free agents can declare July 1 and can begin negotiating July 8, but nowhere does it say James has to decide by July 8.

“It could go past the 8th, it could go past the 15th,” Windhorst said. “Nobody’s really sure how anybody’s going to move. Just because we keep talking about July 1 doesn’t mean that’s when the decisions are going to get made.

“And so if I were betting, I would settle in for at least six more weeks of this sort of stuff.  And especially from July 1 to when he signs, a fever pitch, especially wherever LeBron is sighted. I will guarantee you he will be sighted in multiple cities the first few days of July just to amp up the intensity and the speculation.”

Windhorst added that the delay could directly impact a guy like David Lee, the unrestricted free agent forward from the Knicks.

“I think David Lee is a classic example of a player that’s going to be highly effected by this,” Windhorst said.

“What if while LeBron is deciding what he’s gonna do and Chris Bosh is waiting around, what if David Lee gets an offer from another team, one of those $50 or $60 million offers that he’s looking for in the first couple of days of free agency?”

Windhorst mentioned teams like Washington, Minnesota and Oklahoma City that have cap space and “may want to jump in there and try to grab a player of David Lee’s caliber.”

Speaking on 1050 ESPN on Wednesday, Mark Bartelstein, Lee’s agent, said his client might just “pull the trigger” while LeBron is making up his mind.

“David’s made it clear from the beginning, his No. 1 goal would be to be in New York,” Bartelstein said. “But we don’t control all of that and there are a lot of dominoes in place.

“There are a lot of teams out there that are going to pursue David very hard come July 1. And if the right situation presents itself…and the Knicks…are not prepared to give an answer at that point, then he might pull the trigger and get it done.”

(Photo courtesy Cleveland Plain Dealer)

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