Run could land LeBron long term

There’s a river of positive energy flowing through the Cavaliers organization right now and its biggest dividend could come this summer.

Spurred on by limitless playoff potential and the satisfaction of achievement from this breakout season, all signs point to LeBron James quickly and happily signing a five-year contract extension in the offseason.

The team will officially offer the deal, worth around $75 million, on July 1 and James can sign it any time between July 12 and Oct. 31. With Team USA training for the FIBA World Championships set for July 19 in Las Vegas, then an Asian tour and the competition itself set to eat up all of August and some of September, it would be prudent for James to get the deal done.

He said Wednesday he’s almost overwhelmed by how fast the team has developed around him and it has led to a very positive take on the franchise’s future.

“As good as we are now? I didn’t think we could be this good this fast,'’ James said. “With eight new players, a whole new coaching staff, a whole new organization… I knew with the offseason acquisitions that we were going to be a good team. We’ve come a long way in the last year.'’

It isn’t a closely guarded secret James is happy with the way things have developed. He said in December that: “I can’t wait to sign my extension,'’ but he hasn’t done it in a large media setting since. That’s fueled some speculation that he’ll skip his chance to extend his deal and become a restricted free agent in the summer of 2007.

Yet, in the best interest of the Cavs’ chances to pursue a championship, James will likely want to make it known to any free agents that might consider the Cavs this summer that he’ll be around for the long haul.

Beyond that, the smart business decision for James will be to take the offer when it is presented, since no team in the NBA can offer more and they can’t match any offer to James in the open market until 2008.

He needs to look no further than Amare Stoudemire, who signed a maximum contract extension with the Phoenix Suns last summer as soon as he was able and later had to undergo two knee surgeries that wrecked his season and might have damaged his value if he’d waited.

The new organization has impressed James, his family and his representatives.

James has already built a strong relationship with primary team owners Dan Gilbert and David Katzman, who can often be found watching games or hanging out before and after games with James’ closest advisors.

Gilbert’s children often mingle in the hallways of arenas with James’ manager, Maverick Carter. Two of the first people to congratulate Gilbert in Washington when the Cavs prevailed in a series over the Wizards were James’ agent Leon Rose and advisor William Wesley.

According to those close to James, how the team has supported Larry Hughes and his family during the death of his brother has only further convinced James it is the proper organization to commit to long term.

All that said, team officials will not take James’ re-signing for granted — publicly or privately — and probably will never rest easy.

When the contract issue is settled, there will be constant pressure to add pieces to the team to support James and, like with other franchise players such as Kevin Garnett and Allen Iverson, there will be regular speculation that the resident star could demand to be traded.

In the modern NBA, that all comes with the territory.

Huges might return

After a weeklong absence from the team to take care of his family, Larry Hughes might be back on the bench for tonight’s Game 6. Not having practiced or played over that span, it is questionable he’d even be activated for the game, much less play. Flip Murray will remain in the starting lineup at shooting guard. The Cavs are 21-7 with Murray in the starting lineup this season.

Dribbles

James got an MVP trophy Thursday — from the All-Star Game. The trophy was damaged during shipping in February and was repaired and re-presented to him after the team’s film session…. Zydrunas Ilgauskas’ six blocks in Game 5 tied a franchise playoff record also held by Nate Thurmond and Larry Nance…. Damon Jones got accidently punched in the head by Anderson Varejao during the postgame celebration Wednesday, the second time he’s been hurt celebrating this postseason. James tackled him after he made the game-winning shot in Game 6 of the Wizards series.