Category: Basketball

For one reason or another, the Cleveland Cavaliers weren’t able to lure LeBron James back home for one final run. James chose to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers instead after nearly a month of free agency.

The Cavs handled free agency as if they were going to get LeBron. Now we know why. On the most recent episode of the Game Over podcast, Rich Paul — James’s agent — and ESPN’s Shams Charania disclosed that James met with Cleveland’s front office and ownership group at the beginning of July in Akron.

“The Cavs front office group, Koby Altman, Brandon Weems, the Gilbert family… meeting with LeBron in Akron in early July,” said Charania.

“In real time, the integrity matters more than anything; this was something I was told off the record. Ethically, I couldn’t report it because it wasn’t told to me in a way where I could have a reporter double and triple-check.”

The Cavs entire ownership group and front office met with LeBron James in early July, according to @ShamsCharania and Rich Paul. pic.twitter.com/X77DwDk3uy

— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) July 29, 2026

This latest news confirms earlier rumblings. There were whispers that James had met with the Cavs around this time. It appears that was completely true.

What went down in that meeting is unknown, but you can read this two ways. Both would be justified.

There’s an interpretation of this that the Cavs blew it. After all, Cleveland was the only team that got a complete meeting with James. There was clearly interest in a reunion back home, but something that transpired here made LeBron have second thoughts. Maybe it was due to the roster. Maybe LeBron had other demands.

In this reading, the Cavs didn’t make those guarantees, played hardball, and lost. Now, not only do they have limited resources to fill their hole at small forward. But they also will have to go through James and the Sixers in a loaded Eastern Conference.

The second reading of this is that LeBron was never seriously interested in going to Cleveland, but at least wanted to hear his hometown team out to retain plausible deniability. James could’ve made unrealistic demands, knowing that the Cavs either wouldn’t or couldn’t acquiesce. That way, he could always say he wanted to finish his career in Cleveland, but the Cavs weren’t willing to make the moves necessary to make it happen.

However you want to read this is up to you. It’s difficult to speculate on what James was thinking.

What we can say with certainty is that if LeBron wanted to end his career in Cleveland, he certainly had an opportunity to do so. The Cavs are an extremely talented group that has proven they can win multiple playoff series. Even if James didn’t like all aspects of the roster, there was something there to work with.

Instead, LeBron chose a different path. He decided to live in New York and play for their suburban market, setting up a rivalry between him and his former team.

There was a version of me, years ago, who spent way too many nights doing something I’d never admit to the average person walking down the street. I’d hop from team blog to team blog under the infamous blogboi moniker of Goldbloodedking, deep in enemy territory, soaking up whatever fear and doubt was leaking out of the comment sections.

I was skulking through Pounding the Rock during the Spurs’ slow fade. I was hanging around The Dream Shake when the Rockets were still convinced they had one more run in them. I took kerosene and matches to Fear the Sword, back when Cleveland fans were bracing for whatever came after LeBron’s first go-round. I’d show up uninvited and declare, with the full confidence of a visionary who had one drink too many on a Friday night, that their franchise had been chosen for one purpose: to be the next team the Warriors dynasty flattened on its way up the mountain.

The Warriors hadn’t won anything yet when I started saying this. I wasn’t reacting to a trophy case. I had a feeling, and I said it loud enough and often enough that the other blogs got sick of me. Pounding the Rock banned me. The Dream Shake hated my guts. Fear the Sword ran me out of town before the ink was even dry on the first banner. I didn’t care. I believed it before it was true, and then it was true, and I got to be right in front of everybody who told me to sit down.

This week I found myself reading a Warriors headline that sounded exactly like the conversations I used to have with everybody else, except this time I couldn’t laugh it off: “Warriors are just fine running back this old team”.

“[The Warriors are] just fine running back this kinda older 37-win core and understanding they’re not necessarily a part of the title conversation.” 👀@anthonyVslater details Golden State's mindset this offseason ✍️ pic.twitter.com/WyepV6obys

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 28, 2026

Slater’s reporting paints a surprisingly clear picture. The Warriors are comfortable bringing back essentially the same veteran core, a team that won 37 games, and the front office isn’t pretending that group is part of the title conversation this season. Reading it, I couldn’t help thinking about all those nights on Pounding the Rock and Fear the Sword. Only now the dynasty everybody was quietly writing around was the one in my backyard.

The moves themselves tell you why nobody’s expecting a leap. Draymond Green came back on the same one-year, $27.7 million deal he’d previously turned down. LeBron picked Philadelphia over everybody, including Golden State. The free agent market was about as thin as it’s been in years, and the Warriors filled the rest of the roster out with minimum deals because that’s all the cap situation allowed.

The Warriors are positioning themselves for next summer instead of this one. Draymond and Butler both come off the books after this season, Curry becomes extension eligible on August 29, and once the current contracts are finalized, the Warriors are projected to have some of the cleanest cap space in the league by next summer. They’re trying to get to next summer with as much flexibility as possible, betting that the next disgruntled superstar eventually becomes available once the books actually clear.

Steph Curry gotta demand a trade 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/rRbEErrGfo

— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) July 28, 2026

I don’t know how else to read it. Does the organization already believe this probably isn’t the group that’s winning another championship? I get keeping themselves flexible until another real opportunity walks through the door, but is there truly know way to improve this team this season externally?

I spent a decade telling other fanbases to make peace with their ending. I never thought I’d be the one hearing it being told back to me by the Warriors themselves.

LeBron James is a Sixer.

Some variation of that sentence might be the lede for all of our foreseeable articles.

With James in the fold, the Sixers will have one of the most immensely talented starting groups in NBA history. Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, James and Joel Embiid are five incredibly gifted players. The four veterans have all been All-NBA picks and it’s not crazy to suggest Edgecombe could join them one day.

The issue with many “super teams” is depth. Hell, the top-heavy Sixers of 2025-26 had debilitating depth issues that were exposed in a big way by the eventual champion New York Knicks in the second round. You need guys to pitch in on load management nights or hit big shots while the stars get the attention.

But when you look at the Sixers’ roster for 2026-27, depth isn’t really an issue — despite what some national folks would have you believe.

Before free agency began, the Sixers selected Alabama guard Labaron Philon with the 22nd overall pick. Philon could prove to be a capable lead ball-handler at the NBA level, which should take a serious burden off Maxey and even Edgecombe, who was basically the team’s de facto backup point guard last season. Philon’s impressive summer league only adds to the belief he can be an immediate contributor.

Mike Gansey and company didn’t have much time to relax as free agency began mere days later — and they were aggressive from the jump.

On the first night of free agency, it was reported that Cleveland Cavaliers forward Dean Wade would be signing a four-year deal. The next day, the team made a move that surprised some, giving New York Knicks big man Ariel Hukporti a deal above the minimum. As Gansey noted after the selection of Philon, this team needed a little bit of everything. Adding versatile forward depth in Wade and another option behind Embiid in Hukporti struck those notes.

Of course, nobody saw what was coming next as the team shipped Paul George and draft picks to the Boston Celtics for Jaylen Brown. Without sacrificing any rostered players, Brown’s acquisition also improved the team’s depth because of the 2025-26 All-NBA pick’s availability compared to George’s.

One of the most surprising and perhaps underrated moves by Gansey this offseason was acquiring guard Anfernee Simons. Simons is an elite offensive player, with the ability to score and make threes at a high level on high volume. How many times did the Sixers just need any type of scoring punch off the bench in the postseason? The only game they really got it was Game 5 in Boston when Quentin Grimes had by far his finest game in the playoffs. For context — Gansey signed Wade and Simons for the same amount of money Grimes got from the Los Angeles Lakers. That’s strong value.

The Brown trade set the stage for signing LeBron, which also led to the eventual signing of veteran wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and trading of Johni Broome. With that, the Sixers should have 14 players signed to standard deals who can help them win games.

Wade and Simons will be the top options while Hukporti and the incumbent Adem Bona battle it out to back up Embiid. Caldwell-Pope and third-year player Justin Edwards will likely battle it out for minutes on the wing.

And don’t forget about Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker. Both players started last season on two-way deals before being converted to standard contracts. Barlow gave the Sixers meaningful minutes, even starting 59 games. Walker isn’t a world-beater, but he’s an ideal 14th guy on your roster who will give you high effort and make open threes against the Brooklyn Nets on a Tuesday night in January.

The depth chart looks legit:

PG: Maxey/Philon
SG: Edgecombe/Simons
SF: Brown/KCP/Edwards
PF: LeBron/Wade/Barlow/Walker
C: Embiid/Hukporti/Bona

All teams are going to have holes going into the regular season. Even the defending champion Knicks lost Mitchell Robinson and are attempting to replace him with old friend Andre Drummond. So, if you have concerns about the Hukporti-Bona duo being the primary plan behind Embiid, that’s fair, but there will be time to address the position ahead of the deadline.

Because they’re hard-capped at the first apron, their 15th roster spot will need to remain open for now. But by early January, they’ll be able to bring in players on 10-day contracts. Maybe one of those guys pops. Perhaps an interesting player will be available around the deadline. While first-rounders will be tricky to use because of the Stepien Rule, the Sixers will have plenty of second-rounders still at their disposal. They could also look into the buyout market once the deadline passes.

And don’t forget about the two-way spots. Rayan Rupert and Caleb Love are interesting lottery tickets. The third spot remains open. Maybe an intriguing big will take that final slot and force their way into minutes like Barlow and Walker a year ago.

The overall point is the Sixers have depth — plus avenues to add things they might need.

LeBron is joining a star-studded starting five.

He also has plenty of help coming off the bench.

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I’m sitting here looking at the Phoenix Suns’ depth chart, and I have to admit, my imagination is starting to run wild. Maybe that’s what all of us do during the offseason. We stare at a depth chart and begin imagining all of the possibilities for the upcoming season. This is the time of year built on hope and optimism because we haven’t seen anything play out on the court yet. We can spend all day hypothesizing about everything that could go right.

At the same time, realism has to live alongside those expectations. As I sit here in the same chair, staring at a different depth chart than I was a summer ago, I realize I didn’t have this same level of optimism. I didn’t feel the number of lineup combinations the Suns could deploy was nearly as expansive. I also didn’t know what kind of coach Jordan Ott would be or what kind of culture this team would ultimately establish.

A year later, we have those answers. And understanding what the Suns can be is part of why I’m so excited. From a roster construction standpoint, this team has optionality. Just look at it.

Where it really gets fun is when you start exploring the different lineup combinations the Suns can throw at opponents because they finally possess the roster versatility they haven’t had in years. You want a “tough son of a bitch” lineup? Give me Gillespie, Goodwin, Brooks, Bridges, and Maluach. You want size? Give me Booker, Brooks, Peat, Fleming, and Maluach. You want rebounding? Give me Goodwin, Green, Fleming, Bridges, and either Mark Williams or Maluach. You want experience? Give me Booker, Green, Brooks, Bridges, and Williams, which is probably the starting five when the season opens.

That’s what intrigues me most about this roster. There are answers for different situations. There are lineup combinations built to solve different problems. And that’s something the Suns simply haven’t had at their disposal in recent seasons.

My point? The Suns have options. Plenty of them. We’ll probably spend the rest of the summer talking about all of the lineup combinations available to Phoenix. 

But there’s a downside to that optionality, one that will reveal itself every time the Suns lose. I’ve talked at length in the past about the disease of “what if.” When you have this many options at your disposal, it’s easy to focus on the lineup that wasn’t used rather than the one that was. Every loss will invite questions about what Jordan Ott should have done differently. 

That’s human nature. We like to imagine what could have been more than accept what actually happened. On nights when the Suns end up on the wrong side of the scoreboard, this roster’s optionality could become more of a curse than a blessing. My hope is that simply acknowledging it now serves as a reminder not to fall prey to that inevitable conversation. At the same time, we have to remain objective. If the Suns are consistently losing and there’s a clear trend showing that certain lineups are underutilized, then the inexperience of the head coach has to be part of that discussion.

I know it probably sounds like I’m preparing everyone for disappointment before a game has even been played. I’m not. What I’m saying is this roster gives Jordan Ott more options than the Suns have had in years. That’s exciting. It’s also going to require a delicate balance between experimenting with different combinations and settling on the situational lineups that consistently produce results. That won’t be easy.

Think about all of the lineups I mentioned above. I didn’t even include Ryan Dunn, and he’s someone who absolutely needs meaningful minutes this season because the organization has an important decision to make on him next offseason. You can’t evaluate what you have if you don’t let him play. 

That’s the blessing. That’s also the curse. The Suns have built quality depth, but quality depth becomes a challenge if it’s underutilized. Winning cures all. If Phoenix wins, these conversations largely disappear. But overanalyzing sports is part of being a fan, and if the Suns start losing, I’m telling you now that the conversation will inevitably begin with one question. “What if?”

The irony is that this is exactly the kind of problem good teams are supposed to have. A coach would rather sort through too many playable combinations than spend an entire season searching for five players who fit together. Jordan Ott’s biggest challenge won’t be finding options. It’ll be identifying the right ones, knowing when to adjust, and resisting the temptation to chase every possible answer. For the first time in a long time, the Suns’ biggest roster question isn’t whether they have enough pieces. It’s figuring out how to best use them.

DAZN, the British streaming platform primarily focused on live sports, has entered into an agreement that will make it the exclusive digital home for the MSG Networks and YES Network during the 2026-27 NBA, NHL and MLB seasons.

The partnership announced on Wednesday, July 29 gives DAZN the direct-to-consumer streaming rights to regional broadcasts of games involving the New York Knicks, New York Yankees, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Brooklyn Nets, New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres.

"It is a defining moment for us and underscores our commitment to expanding our footprint in the United States," DAZN CEO Shay Segev said in a statement.

NBA: Breaking down the best offseason move by all 30 teams in 2026

Segev confirmed to Sports Business Journal that DAZN is close to acquiring the rights to more NBA teams' games for the 2026-27 regular season. The report cited sources stating DAZN is in talks to get the exclusive local broadcasting rights next season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves and San Antonio Spurs. It is also negotiating for direct-to-consumer streaming-only arrangements with the Charlotte Hornets and Orlando Magic.

The deal with MSG Networks and YES Network comes as professional sports leagues confront the decline of regional sports networks and look for new distribution models and revenue streams. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this month in Las Vegas he expects to have a centralized solution for teams that are currently scrambling to find local carriers for their 2026-27 regular-season games.

DAZN, by virtue of Wednesday's announcement, is now positioned as a potential candidate to helpthe NBA with its local broadcasting issues moving forward.

“We’ll cobble together a series of solutions for this season, but I feel good that we’ll have something on a national basis for the following year,” Silver told reporters.

What is DAZN?

DAZN, pronounced 'da-zone,' was founded in 2016 and has previously carried combat sports events and international soccer programming in the U.S. It has also served as a streaming platform for audiences outside the U.S. to watch American sports, with international rights to NFL, NBA, NHL and college football and basketball games throughout the year.

DAZN will also have 24/7 feeds of MSG, MSG Sportsnet and YES Network, in addition to on-demand access to highlights and original programming. Those who currently watch MSG Networks and YES Network through The Gotham Sports App will eventually be migrated onto DAZN's platform, but the exact timing has been not disclosed yet.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DAZN lands MSG and YES streaming rights, eyes more NBA deals

LeBron James stunned the NBA world last week, opting to sign with the 76ers in free agency. But before he did, James took the time to meet with the team that drafted him first overall in the 2003 NBA Draft before making his decision.

In early July, there was a meeting between James and the Cavaliers front office. NBA insider Shams Charania knew of the meeting, but chose not to report on the matter because it was off the record.

On Wednesday, the secret meeting was discussed on the Game Over podcast. Charania surprised Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul when he informed him of the tidbit.

“Now, you tell me Rich if I’m right or wrong. Is it, the Cavs front office group, Koby Altman, Brandon Weems, the Gilbert family, Grant Gilbert, meeting with LeBron in early July in Akron?” Charania said.

“Wait a minute, how did you know about that?” Paul said.

“In real time, the integrity aspect matters more than anything because this was information I was told by multiple people on background, off the record. This was something that, ethically, I couldn’t report,” Charania said.

LeBron James reportedly met with the entire Cavaliers front office in Akron in early July, but Shams chose not to report it because the meeting was off the record

(h/t @NBA__Courtside ) pic.twitter.com/ODtFNXtwr0

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 29, 2026

While many felt James snubbed his former teams — the Cavaliers and Miami Heat — by choosing to sign a two-year, $8 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, it appears the 41-year-old took the time to discuss a return to Cleveland earlier this summer.

Paul, James’ agent, has also previously discussed the 76ers were never seriously considered until the team traded for All-Star Jaylen Brown. James took notice of Philadelphia after the blockbuster deal.

James hasn’t publicly discussed why he opted not to return to a franchise he had already won an NBA title with, but Paul has alluded to the idea that a reunion left room for uncertainty.

There were still massive question marks surrounding the Heat’s depth and scoring ability. They lost a ton of assets in the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade.

But the Cavs did not have that same issue.

Nevertheless, the 2026-27 season will mark an exciting final chapter for James as he attempts to bring a championship to a city that hasn’t seen a trophy in nearly half a century.

At 41 years old, James is perhaps entering the most interesting portion of his Hall of Fame career.

It’s one thing to talk about Tottenham Hotspur player injuries. It’s another thing when Spurs’ primary attacking target picks up a long-term injury. David Ornstein, among others, is now reporting that Bournemouth attacker Eli Junior Kroupi has sustained a metatarsal injury to his foot during preseason training and will miss the next 3-4 months, putting a significant crimp into Spurs’ summer transfer window plans (as well as everyone else’s who were pursuing a move for Kroupi this summer).

🚨 Junior Kroupi expected to be out for 3/4 months with foot injury suffered in pre-season training. 20yo Bournemouth forward flew back from Austria tour & underwent successful surgery today. Departure this summer never countenanced by #AFCB@TheAthleticFChttps://t.co/UWi4BtYQjE

— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) July 29, 2026

OK here’s the point where you can make lots of #jokes about Tottenham’s injury history, including swipes at Spurs’ medical team extending their remit to injuring Spurs targets, resigned quips about how will fit right in on Tottenham’s recovery table, and sensible chuckles about how Ange Postecoglou is at it again — when will he stop getting away with this?

Ready? GO.

…

…

…

Okay, now that we’ve gotten it all out of our system, this is a real shame. Kroupi looked to be the ideal young attacker that could really level up Spurs’ attack. I’d say it’s almost a certainty that Spurs will now move onto other targets (Cody Gakpo is the name coming up most frequently, more on him later). It probably means that all the teams that are after him now will shift their attentions to signing him NEXT summer, or possibly in January if he returns before then.

But it’s a real bummer. There was no guarantee that Spurs would’ve signed Kroupi this summer (even though they were ostensibly in the lead according to several sources), but I like him a lot and was really hoping we’d end up buying him. And let’s also not forget that this is also a serious blow to Bournemouth, who were hoping to keep him and capitalize on his play to improve on their sixth place finish from last season.

Crap.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are searching high and low (and overseas) for help on the wing after missing out on LeBron James, though there are limited options available. However, those options are at least intriguing.

Cleveland’s interest in Jonathan Kuminga is well-documented, but Chris Fedor of cleveland.comsaid on the Wind and Gold Talk podcast that the Cavs have expressed interest in Denver Nuggets forward Peyton Watson and forward DeMar DeRozan. “I’m told the Cavs have expressed interest in all three of those guys,” Fedor said. DeRozan presents the easiest option given he is an unrestricted free agent and has been seen widely as the backup to teams that missed out on James.

But Watson presents a similar issue to that of Kuminga, in that the Cavs would need to pony up some assets in a trade to make that happen. The pathway to acquiring Watson would have to be a sign-and-trade that could cost them someone like Jarrett Allen. That will likely prove to be a dealbreaker for the Cavs, who have been very reluctant to part with Allen unless, of course, it brings back a difference-maker player. Watson is a good player and is coming off a good season, but he is likely not the kind of player the Cavs would seek in return for Allen.

Denver has reportedly offered Watson an extension in the $16-$18 million range per year, according to Marc Stein via his Substack, which is well below his desired amount. Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension with Cleveland in 2024 and will make $28 million this upcoming season, escalating to just over $30 million and $32 million over the next two years.

The Atlanta Hawks have also shown interest in Allen, but the Cavs would need more in return than just Kuminga. Trade scenarios involving sending Allen to Denver or Atlanta seem unlikely, unless the Cavs can get demonstrably better while tying up future money to either Watson or Kuminga in the process.

Basketball never stops.

The offseason is a time to rest, reset, but also prepare and train for the year ahead. Luka Dončić is already on that grind and posting his workouts on Instagram.

This is a big year for Dončić. LeBron James is gone, making Luka, without question, the Lakers’ leader. This team will be a representation of him.

While the start of the year is still months away, Luka wants to get to work as soon as possible.

Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported on Wednesday that Dončić will bring the entire roster to Slovenia for a four-day mini-camp in August.

Luka Doncic is hosting the entire Los Angeles Lakers roster in Slovenia for a four-day minicamp in August, a source close to the Lakers told ESPN. The itinerary will include workouts, golf and some Ljubljana tourism and bonding ahead of training camp.

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) July 29, 2026

The Lakers clearly want to build their chemistry quickly.

They already held a mini-camp during the Las Vegas Summer League. That was smaller than what this will be in Slovenia, since the entire team will be in attendance.

Dončić running this should be music to Lakers fans’ ears.

It shows that Luka wants these guys around him and welcomes them to his birthplace, Ljubljana, Slovenia. None of this is required for Dončić to do. His taking this initiative is exactly what you want from your team’s top player. LeBron would often have a mini-camp in Vegas right before training camp, and now Luka is doing something similar, but in his own way.

With so many new faces on the Lakers, the more time they can get together, the better. Hopefully, this mini-camp and then the official one sometime in September will create a scenario where the team can hit the ground running in October.

This will likely be a fun and friendly team event. Luka seems to have caught the golf bug, just like his buddy Austin Reaves, and has it as part of this four-day event. With that, along with some tourism mixed in, it sounds like a fun work trip.

If, at the end of this, the team knows each other better and has built some rapport, then it’ll be a success. Hopefully, this can become a new tradition and a way for Luka to cultivate the Lakers’ culture under his leadership.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.

The season will start in fewer than three months, and the San Antonio Spurs will no longer have the benefit of being a surprise team. They’ve made up for that by bringing in a veteran assistant coach in Billy Donovan who won twice at the University of Florida, and signed Tobias Harris, adding another seasoned player capable of relief scoring in big games who will also be expected to have a critical role in the non-Victor Wembanyama minutes.

The stretch in which the team‘s best player rests is one of the most important in the game since opponents try to hit the accelerator. When Jimmy Butler was on the Miami Heat, too many games were up in the air during his four to six minute break at the start of the fourth quarter, and the non-Nikola Jokić minutes in Denver are part of the reason the Nuggets haven’t returned to the Finals during the prime of an all-time great because he has to do too much. 

The Spurs’ primary scorers in the non-Wemby minutes were usually De’Aaron Fox or Devin Vassell, and their scoring threat in the front court was Harrison Barnes. Adding another mobile option to the frontline with a superior ability at getting into the body of defenders will ensure Fox, Vassell or whichever guard is in this rotation in 2026-27 doesn’t get worn out, and it will make it easier to cover for Luke Kornet’s limitations. 

Harris’ versatility could even allow for some experimenting with him as the small-ball five against certain matchups to preserve speed, which he hasn’t tried in his career for any significant stretch. With respect to Luke Kornet, whose epic chase down block on Isaiah Hartenstein was one of the highlights of the playoffs, he doesn’t move his feet fast enough and is in danger against competent outside shooters. 

The edge Harris brings in this scenario is guarding at the level of the screen. Not to imply he’s some renowned defender, but Harris will be more of a help versus bigger ball handlers because he has enough foot speed and strength to make it difficult for them on the move. On top of that, using him here could be more effective than playing Carter Bryant as the backup big since the youngster’s exuberance hasn’t been harnessed, and it causes him to pick up too many fouls.  

Imagine a bombs-away lineup of Harris next to Fox, Barnes, Julian Champagnie and Vassell. A nice wrinkle would be making him the first passer to the post in a split action set. Harris would then turn instantly into a screener, and if a big is guarding him, it will likely ensure the shooter has even more space due to many bigs not being comfortable hovering the outside, especially if their man doesn’t have the ball.

The video below is from Dustin Aubert (The Basketball Academy) and it’s about two minutes, but please examine the first possession from a New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors game from a few seasons ago. The Warriors commonly run split action, and the man to focus on here is Kevon Looney. This is a perfect example of how making the big man the initiator of the set puts the defense on ice.

MUST ADD ACTION

Bilbao, Split Action, Away Twirl.

Here are some cool things the Warriors do with their off ball movement. Personal favorite is the away twirl. pic.twitter.com/qNN3pIV7Yn

— Dustin Aubert (@dustinaubert) January 13, 2023

Last season, the Spurs would lose the option of their big man being the trailing shooter when Kornet came in for Wemby. Relying on Harris in this role keeps that option in play and he’s a decent shooter on the catch, making 38.1 percent of attempts, yet this plummeted to 31.6 percent in the postseason. 

Additionally, bigs wouldn’t keep up with Harris on catch-and-go moves, and they might try to compensate by force-feeding mismatches on the other side. A good scheme can offset that, and his post skills would also unlock the perimeter.  The first test to see if this could be a real option should be against the lower-level bigs and progress as it goes on. 

Keep in mind that Harris had one of his best playoff runs with the Detroit Pistons in 2025-26 and it notably came next to a high-level playmaker in Cade Cunningham. Still, it wasn’t the prefered role for him because he ended up having to do too much as the second option. 

In San Antonio, Fox and especially Dylan Harper can ensure that he gets the ball in ideal situations, since one of them will probably be on the floor at all times. One of the playmakers working with Harris on screen rolls would be effective, and so would putting him in motion. He knows how to play without the ball, so it’s easy to envision him taking open 10-foot jumpers after curling around stagger and cross screens.

Some may not view Harris as a home run addition since he’s not the flashiest and has only been better than a league-average 3-point shooter in four postseasons, but he is in the ideal role as a fourth option. Don’t be surprised if he plays his most meaningful, impactful ball with the Spurs. 

 

LeBron James signing an 2-year, $8 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers proved it was never about the money.

While there was an opportunity to return to the Los Angeles Lakers for a ninth season with the franchise, James felt like it was time to move on.

But there was another LA team that was interested in signing the four-time NBA champion — the Clippers.

According to ESPN insider Dave McMenamin, the Clippers offered James a one-year deal worth more than $20 million. The contract presented a chance for James to stay in his Brentwood home, but he declined.

The 41-year-old spent nearly a month mulling over his options in free agency, which eventually came down to five finalists: the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves and 76ers.

A return to either Miami or Cleveland would have made perfect sense for James, with nobody questioning the decision. Teaming up with Steph Curry in the Bay Area also would’ve been palatable by basketball fans.

But Philadelphia? Choosing the 76ers wasn’t the easy route, it was a challenging one.

Just like the previous three franchises he brought championships to before, James will have to perform at the highest level. Not only making a sacrifice to start fresh with a new organization, but also leaving his family on the west coast while he spends the NBA season living in New York City.

McMenamin provided insight into James’ decision to leave the city of LA, despite having spent the last eight years under the bright lights of Hollywood.

“But if it was just about the money, he could have stayed home and played for the Clippers,” McMenamin wrote.

“Ultimately, his decision — the last decision of this nature in his career — was all about finding that feeling of fully immersing himself in a basketball environment of his choosing.”

There’s no telling how things will pan out in Philadelphia, but evidently James is confident in the final free agency decision of his career.

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