Not even a week has passed since Cleveland's elimination by New York, and the summer transfer window is already taking the biggest name in the NBA on a familiar course - LeBron James being linked back to the Cavaliers, in a transfer that sounds absurd even by NBA standards.

According to the scenario from ClutchPoints and analyst Brett Siegel, the only legal route for a LeBron-and-Cleveland reunion runs through a sign-and-trade with the Los Angeles Lakers. The deal would include centre Jarrett Allen on a 28-million-dollar salary, whom the Lakers have been tracking for a while, and possibly wing Dean Wade.

The numbers aren't friendly. LeBron is coming off a 52.6-million-dollar deal, and reports say he has no intention of taking a symbolic paycheck. Cleveland is already a „second-apron" team - the most punitive tax bracket in the NBA - and for this swap to go through, it has to convince James Harden to sign a new deal at a huge discount, and ship out several more players on the way out.

For the Lakers the story has logic - a centre alongside Luka Dončić is what Los Angeles has been chasing the whole season. For Cleveland, the talk of a 41-year-old LeBron coming back for a „last run" sounds romantic - until you look at the height of the payroll. This scenario is only real on paper.