“I’m bringing my talents… back to Cleveland!” It might not be that far-fetched.

Perhaps a strange and all-too-ironic concept for NBA fans to grasp, but there is now a compelling reason for Lebron James to return to his hometown Cavaliers. For the second time in three years, the Cavaliers have won the NBA draft lottery, an advantage that could potentially land them a legitimate big man to play alongside star point guard Kyrie Irving. To go along with their coveted number one pick, Cleveland also has picks 19, 31 and 33.

Slowly but surely, owner Dan Gilbert seems to be digging his team out of the crater-sized hole Lebron James left on his way to join the Miami Heat. From ESPN.com:

 ”We were hoping regardless of what pick we got that this would be our last lottery…We thought originally after everything had to be reset that it would be a three-year process. You never know. It could be four. We thought three years, but having No. 1 and 19, we’ve got a pretty good chance of this being the last one for a while.”

James can opt out of his current contract with Miami in 2014, and if everything were to fall into place Cleveland fans could soon be hanging up the “we are all witnesses” sign they tore down in 2010.  Gilbert and his Cavaliers are certainly putting the bait out there.  They have a true point guard and star in Kyrie Irving (22.5 ppg; 5.9 apg in ’13), the first pick in this year’s draft and have brought back old friend Mike Brown to be head coach. James, though preoccupied in Miami, surely must be taking note of these things in the back of his mind.

If James were to return to Cleveland it would be the ultimate prodigal son story. It would be a chance at hometown redemption and an opportunity to do the one thing he has yet to do in the NBA: be the savior of a franchise.