Almost a year after his last visit to The Q for a regular-season game, LeBron James is back in Cleveland -- this time, under much different terms.

After being villainized by his home city for departing in free agency in 2010, LeBron has thawed things a bit, especially after saying that he wouldn't rule out playing for the Cavaliers again someday.

How much stock should we put into those comments? Our three-man weave tackles that and more heading into Friday night's showdown at 7:30 ET.


1. Fact or Fiction: LeBron should have avoided any talk of returning to the Cavs.

Tom Haberstroh: Fact. It's too early. No employer needs to hear plans of working elsewhere. The Heat definitely don't appreciate the "homecoming" talk a year and a half into the Heat project.

Brian Windhorst: Fact. LeBron has been sending signals he feels this way for a while now and it had already become a talking point in Cleveland. But talking about it so expansively now, when the Heat are rolling and his next free-agent decision is three summers away, is more destabilizing than anything.

Michael Wallace: Fiction. He has no reason to run from the discussion. But it would be nice if he had a bit more direction and purpose in addressing the situation. LeBron is human. He struggles with PR. But at the end of the day, considering Ohio is his home, he could have spun it to suggest he'd welcome a role with the organization at some point down the line, perhaps even a front-office-type role. His on-court focus, now and into the future, should be with Miami.

2. Fact or Fiction: The chances of a Cavs return have changed since LeBron's last visit.

Haberstroh: Fact. It seems like LeBron's sentiment was calculated, but you can't deny that he has mended some fences this season. It won't be open arms, but they won't be closed, either.

Windhorst: Fiction. A few things happened. One was LeBron spent months at home over the offseason. Two, while he was home he saw how the Cleveland fans welcomed former nemesis Jim Thome with open arms 10 years after he bolted town in free agency in his prime. Finally, the Cavs drafted Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson, two friends of James. But the chances of a return are still where we left them.

Wallace: Fiction. How could we seriously know? There were some who couldn't envision LeBron leaving Cleveland until he was already out of the door. I'm done predicting the future with these guys. We're not privy to their real agendas. I do know this: Zydrunas Ilgauskas quietly went back to the Cavs after some questioned his loyalty (on a much smaller scale) for following LeBron to Miami. So LeBron is right in one sense. Anything's possible.

3. Fact or Fiction: As long as Dan Gilbert is the owner, LeBron won't be welcomed back.

Haberstroh: Fiction. LeBron might be the most sensitive topic that has surfaced in Gilbert's professional career, but time heals all wounds. Gilbert is a business man, and the LeBron Return, if it ever happens, would be the biggest sports story in ages. Hard to walk away from that.

Windhorst: Fiction. They both had rough words for each other. They both deeply offended each other. They both have always been interested in taking advantage of situations and doing what's best for themselves. If that someday meant a remarriage, of course it would happen. But all of it is just a talking point, it's not close to reality.

Wallace: Fiction. I defer all things Gilbert and Cavaliers to Windhorst. He knows and has covered that organization under Gilbert as well as anyone. I do know Gilbert, first and foremost, is a businessman. And LeBron made him a fortune once when the forward was in a Cavs uniform. I'm sure he could swallow his pride in the name of more stacks of Benjamins if LeBron ever seriously has interest in a return.