LeBron James described the NCAA as "corrupt" and said the NBA should work towards further developing the G League to give prospects a viable alternative.

"I don't know if there's any fixing the NCAA. I don't think there is," James said Tuesday. "It's what's been going on for many, many, many, many years. I don't know how you can fix it. I don't see how you can fix it."

James went directly from high school to the NBA in 2003.

"I can't even talk about that, man," James said. "Me and my mom was poor, I'll tell you that, and they expected me to step foot on a college campus and not to go to the NBA? We weren't going to be poor for long, I'll tell you that. That's a fact."

James has two sons who are expected to be high level recruits and he also aspires to someday own an NBA team.

"We have to shore up our G League, continue to expand our G League," James said. "... I just looked at it like the farm league, like in baseball. Or you look at pros overseas; some of those guys get signed at 14, but they get put into this farm system where they're able to grow and be around other professionals for three or four years. Then, when they're ready, they hit the national team, or when they're ready, they become a pro. So I think us, we have to kind of really figure that out, how we can do that.

"We're worried about kids coming into the league early, but they're not ready, then out of the league because of that," James continued. "... We have to figure out if a kid feels like, at 16 or 17, he doesn't feel like the NCAA is for him, or whatever the case may be, [then] we have a system in place where we have a farm league where they can learn and be around the professionals but not actually become a professional at that point in time. Not actually play in the NBA, but learn for a few years. Learn what the NBA life is about, learn how to move and walk and talk and things of that nature. Then in two years, they're able to ... just like guys do overseas."

LeBron James considered the three billboards placed in Cleveland by a business based in Pennsylvania recruiting him to the 76ers to be a compliment. 

"You can say it's a distraction, it's not. Not a distraction," James said Tuesday morning. "It is actually very flattering that I'm sitting here at 33 and in my 15th year and teams or guys -- I don't want to say teams because that becomes tampering -- but people in their respective city want me to play for them. That's cool I think. That's dope."

James has a player option for next season, giving him the choice of remaining in Cleveland or entering free agency.

"A lot of potholes on 480," James said with a smile when asked if he's driven on I-480 recently. "Got to be careful with the cars. Got to be very careful. That's why I don't do much driving. I sit in the backseat. You talking about the billboards though?

"I didn't talk to y'all yesterday but I seen it before that just in case I saw y'all."

A company based in Pennsylvania has bought three billboards along I-480 in Cleveland recruiting LeBron James to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The first sign features "#23" in maroon with a crown on it on the court with four blue numbers, numbers that just happen to match the Philadelphia 76ers jerseys of Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Dario Saric and Robert Covington.

The second billboard several hundred feet farther says "Complete The Process." And the third says "#PhillyWantsLeBron."

The 76ers will be in town to play the Cavaliers on Thursday night in a nationally televised game, but the team has nothing to do with the billboards.

Power House Remodeling, based in Chester, Pennsylvania, purchased the billboards.

"We're passionate about Philadelphia," said Asher Raphael, the company's co-CEO. "We have an amazing city, it's the best sports town and it's an awesome place to live. We think the best athletes should want to play here."

"The billboard company said they considered what we were doing to be a political ad and wouldn't sell it to us if we didn't follow those rules," Raphael said. "So they made us say, 'Paid for By.'"

James can become a free agent this offseason.

Isaiah Thomas believes the Cavaliers made a "panic move" in trading him to the Lakers after only 15 games in their lineup.

Thomas was traded in a deal for Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. on Feb. 8 at the trade deadline.

"I didn't think they would pull the trigger that fast, 15 games," Thomas told ESPN's E:60 in an interview that will air March 11. "But again, it's a business. And the Cavs were, I mean, they were in panic mode. We were losing -- a lot. And I think they felt like they needed to make a move, and they, they basically cleared house."

The Cavs went 7-8 with Thomas.

"It was a tough situation I was being put in," Thomas said. "It was -- it was different. ... It's hard to get acclimated to a team halfway through the season.

"People don't put in there that we had eight or nine new players. So it was basically a brand new team. ... I'm in a new system. New team, new coach, new players. And then I've been off for seven months. So I got to get -- individually, I got to for the most part get my rhythm back, get my timing back."

The Cleveland Cavaliers were required to sign a player by Thursday to meet a roster minimum and added Marcus Thornton on a 10-day contract.

Cleveland will also monitor the buyout market.

"He's been a great player in the (G) League for us, played every game," Tyronn Lue said of Thornton Thursday, before the Cavs played the Wizards. "He's been great down there, so we wanted to reward him with this opportunity, and just talking to Koby (Altman) going forward to see how we use him."

The Cavs were also linked to Kendrick Perkins.

If LeBron James becomes a free agent this offseason and holds talks with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a new contract, there are some who believe his no-trade clause will be a sticking point.

James has been on a no-trade clause since returning to the Cavaliers, which has limited the team's leverage as much as his short-term deals.

"Dan Gilbert's not going to do what it takes to keep him," one source predicted. "Not a chance in hell he's going to give him a no-trade clause, or let him dictate contract terms."

James relinquishing his no-trade clause as part of a new deal with the Cavaliers would be a major concession at this point in his career. While James has valued maximizing his earnings as a principle, he has also wanted the ability to maintain his self-determination.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have agreed to sign Marcus Thornton to a 10-day contract.

Thornton has averaged 18.8 points per game this season for the Canton Charge.

LeBron James has played his entire career in the Eastern Conference and he's against the NBA changing the format of the playoffs to seed teams 1-16 instead of by conference.

The Eastern Conference has been a weaker conference for years.

"I would disagree with that," James said. "I think our league has been built the right way as far as when it comes to the postseason."

James has reached The Finals every year since 2011.

"There's been dominant conferences throughout time," James said. "In the '80s you had the Lakers who dominated the league at one point, then you had Boston that dominated the league. In the '90s you had Chicago that dominated the league. San Antonio also had its run. We had our run in the East with Miami, Golden State is having their run.

"It just changes the landscape of the history of the game. If you start messing with seedings and playoffs and then you start talking about, 'Well, if this team would have played this Western Conference team, what....' It's cool to mess around with the All-Star Game, we proved you can do that, but let's not get too crazy about the playoffs. You have Eastern Conference and you have Western Conference. You have Eastern Conference champions, you have guys from the Eastern Conference that win the big dance and sometimes you have it from the West as well."

Ben Simmons alluded to the Philadelphia 76ers pursuing LeBron James this offseason in an Instagram post from All-Star weekend.

The 76ers could create max cap space to potentially sign James.

Simmons is represented by Klutch Sports, which was founded by Rich Paul and James.

 

June 30th Midnight 👀🤟🏽#KLUTCH

A post shared by Ben Simmons (@bensimmons) onFeb 18, 2018 at 9:53am PST

Dwyane Wade was the first player on the Cavaliers to vocally challenge Tyronn Lue to disclose where Kevin Love had been when he left the arena during a loss to the Thunder on Jan. 20th and the team's practice the following day, according to sources.

Numerous players verbally attacked Love, who eventually explained his absence. In the initial reports, Isaiah Thomas was characterized as leading the charge against Love.

Koby Altman contends Wade wasn't traded because of the team meeting but due to fit.

A team source also said LeBron James possibly felt relief by Cleveland's trade of Wade back to the Heat.