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LeBron James, Kevin Love officially back with Cleveland Cavaliers

LeBron James and Kevin Love are headed back to Cleveland for another go-around with the Cavaliers.

LeBron James and Kevin Love are headed back to Cleveland for another go-around with the Cavaliers.

(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)
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To no one’s surprise, LeBron James and Kevin Love are officially headed back to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

James, 30, has reportedly agreed to a one-year, $23-million deal with a player option for a second, keeping his options open following next season for a bigger payday with the increase in the NBA salary cap or even another team, according to Cleveland.com.

The salary cap has been set at $70 million for the 2015-16 season and is expected to rise to about $90 million for 2016-16 because of the NBA’s new television deal with ESPN and Turner Sports.

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Love, 26, has gone a different route, signing a five-year deal worth $113.2 million with the Cavaliers.

“I expressed this to LeBron and he’d been through it a couple of times now -- I can actually go wherever I want and pick the team I want to play for,” Love said according to the Associated Press. “But every time I went through the different scenarios I always came out at the same place, and that was to be in Cleveland and try to win championships. I would be able to really help this team win and going forward make a very big impact on this team and on this city, trying to bring a championship or championships.”

Love was forced to sit out the NBA Finals because of a shoulder injury that required surgery.

The Cavaliers locked up forward Iman Shumpert with a four-year, $40-million deal and former guard Mo Williams has also agreed to return to Cleveland on a two-year contract worth $4.3 million.

Cleveland is still reportedly working on deals to bring back forward Tristan Thompson and guard Matthew Dellavedova.

Follow Matt Wilhalme on Twitter @mattwilhalme

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