Category: NBA

Flash back to November. 

Landry Shamet was coming off a rocky first year with the Knicks, when a dislocated shoulder derailed much of his season and he was largely buried in Tom Thibodeau’s rotation. This was just 12 games into what would eventually become a championship Knicks season, when Shamet drilled six 3-pointers and erupted for a career-high 36 points in a Knicks win over the Heat. 

This was the first sign that he would soon become a key bench piece on a title team. 

“This is where I wanted to be,” Shamet told The Post at the time. “With the year we had last year, this group of guys, this locker room, this city, these fans, all of it, I only wanted to be here, to be honest. I’m glad it worked out.” 

As free agency officially began Tuesday — with teams officially able to negotiate with other free agents at 6 p.m. (they were able to negotiate with their own free agents immediately after the Finals), the futures of Mitchell Robinson and Jordan Clarkson were not yet defined. The Knicks had already moved to bring back Shamet, Jose Alvarado and Mohamed Diawara, solidifying a few of their most important bench contributors from their championship run. 

Entering free agency, Shamet and Robinson were the two biggest question marks surrounding the Knicks. Owner James Dolan’s on-the-record desire to stay under the second apron meant it would be nearly impossible to bring back both and fulfill his wishes. 

Shamet was likely to be the cheaper option, and the Knicks quickly secured his future with what they intend to be a four-year, $24 million deal.

Now, going back to Nov. 12. Across the next seven-plus months, Shamet’s entire career trajectory would change. 

Before that breakout against the Heat, he was barely hanging on in the league. He signed a nonguaranteed, veteran minimum deal to return for a second year with the Knicks. It wasn’t even guaranteed he would make the roster out of training camp — Malcolm Brogdon’s unexpected retirement paved the way for his spot. 

And just three games later, Shamet dislocated his shoulder, the same one on his right, shooting side, as the year prior in a game against the Magic. He had a decision: Undergo surgery, which would have ended his season, or try to rehab it and return later in the year. The latter option required trust in the Knicks, who could have simply cut him and his nonguaranteed contract and signed someone who could come in and play right away. 

Shamet and the Knicks agreed that he’d rehab it with the goal of returning later in the year, a prescient sign of faith between the two sides. 

It wasn’t until Jan. 15 that he returned. But across the next 36 games, he averaged 9.3 points on 38.1 percent shooting from 3-point range, cementing himself as an important part of the rotation. 

But his shooting waned down the stretch of the postseason, and he went just 2-for-8 across the first five games of the first round of the playoffs. He had effectively been replaced in coach Mike Brown’s rotation by Jose Alvarado. All of a sudden, Shamet was on the outside looking in. 

No problem. He didn’t complain or waver. He just waited for another opportunity. 

Across the final 14 postseason games, he shot 50.9 percent from deep. His game-tying trey down the stretch of the epic comeback in Game 1 of the conference finals will live in Knicks lore. 

And, now, he returns to the team he won his first championship with. He wanted to return to the Knicks even after a rough first season. He maintained that belief during an injury that threw his future in doubt. 

Even now, he probably could have gotten more money elsewhere. 

But the Knicks — and their faith in him — rejuvenated his career. He played a pivotal role in their title. 

“Knicks fans are a specific species of human that should be studied,” Shamet said. “They’re crazy. They’re crazy. … Everywhere you walk in the city, that’s what you hear. The buzz is unbelievable. You could try and explain what’s going on in New York right now for Knicks fans but good luck. It’s different. Knicks fans are different.”

This relationship itself is different. And this marriage is set to continue. 

LeBron James is hitting free agency for the first time in eight years and doesn’t appear to be all too worried.

Since the news broke that James and his agent, Rich Paul, informed the Los Angeles Lakers that he would not be returning to the team next season, James made his first social media post as a free agent.

James was seen hanging poolside as free agency begins to unfold.

LeBron James first post on IG as a free agent

Where do you think he ends up? pic.twitter.com/uREVc3lzZI

— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) June 30, 2026

Through the series of videos on his Instagram story, James appeared to be hanging around his family while NBA fans across the world are wondering where he will play next season.

James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, will turn 42 next season and will play in his 24th season.

It’s unknown where James will land next season, as rumors have swirled insisting that he could go back to the Cleveland Cavaliers or join forces with Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors have been adamant about adding James to their roster this offseason and have him join forces with Steph Curry in an effort to land them both their fifth NBA title.

Just before James announced his departure from the Lakers, he helped ignite rumors of him joining Curry and the Warriors on his podcast, “Mind The Game,” released a clip of James talking about how much he enjoyed playing with Curry during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

A potential reunion with the Cavaliers could also be in the works for James, as he was recently seen driving through his hometown of Cleveland/Akron.

The Cavaliers were just one series away from being in the NBA Finals for the first time since James led them to it in 2018. But after getting swept by the New York Knicks, the Cavaliers’ season came to an end.

After seven years, 329 games, $294M in salary, 35 playoff games, three series wins, nearly 200 words spoken aloud, and $48M in endorsement money that led to zero trees planted, the Kawhi Leonard Era is over for the Los Angeles Clippers.

The team sent Leonard to the Toronto Raptors, where he gave Canada their lone major professional title in the last 33 years by defeating the Golden State Warriors, Kevin Durant’s Achilles tendon, and Klay Thompson’s ACL in a hard-fought 2019 NBA Finals. “The Claw” heads back to the Great White North in exchange for Brandon Ingram, two first-round picks, a first-round pick swap, and Gradey Dick, to the delight of Clippers fans who want a naughty word on their team jerseys.

This officially closes the door on the once-promising Clippers era that started in 2019. After the “Lob City” Clippers won the hearts of Southern California fans and very few big playoff games, the Clips and owner Steve Ballmer said goodbye to Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan over two seasons to build around Leonard.

The Clippers clinched their recruitment of Leonard with massive under-the-table payments a trade for Paul George, a deal that cost them future two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and six first-round picks, one which turned into All-NBA forward Jalen Williams. That team looked like title favorites in 2019-20, but unfortunately, they still had Doc Rivers as their coach. Which meant they blew a 3-1 lead in the playoffs.

Leonard tore his ACL during the 2021 playoffs, while the Clippers advanced to the Western Conference Finals with him on the bench. He missed the next season, got hurt in the Clippers’ first-round losses in 2023 and 2024, then lost in the first round while healthy in 2025. The last game of his Clippers career saw Draymond Green shut down Leonard in an epic Warriors comeback that was arguably the greatest 9-10 play-in game win in franchise history.

Now the Clippers have nearly moved on completely. George is frustrating the fans of Philadelphia. James Harden is revitalizing the gentlemen’s club economy of Northeast Ohio as a Cleveland Cavalier. Patrick Beverley is somewhere bragging on a podcast or punching a relative. And Doc Rivers has retired from coaching, until the Shanghai Sharks decide to shake up their team some time in 2028.

They’re left with Brandon Ingram and the somewhat-regrettable $82M left on his contract for two years, plus Dick, the No. 13 pick from the 2023 draft and a three-point specialist who can’t actually shoot. The real prizes are the Raptors’ unprotected first-rounders in 2031 and 2033, while the pick swap for next season effectively gives the Clippers the Raptors first-round pick instead of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s.

Now the Clippers team is centered around Ingram, 26-year-old point guard Darius Garland, and 19-year-old rookie guard Keaton Wagler, the No. 5 pick in last week’s draft. That indicates the Clippers may no longer being going for it hard every season, not that it generally got them out of the first round anyway.

As for Leonard, Canada has universal health care, which should be great for his injury history, and plenty of trees. Whatever happens with the NBA’s investigation of Leonard’s seemingly-illegal deal with Aspiration, he’s already fled the country! Plus, with Leonard, Scottie Barnes, and young big man Collin Murray-Boyles, the Raptors have a potentially-terrifying defense and a real window to contend — along with some scary risk on the 2031 and 2033 picks.

As for the Warriors, their biggest nemeses in Southern California — Leonard and LeBron James — are both splitting town. Time for Dubs fans to develop a healthy dislike for Ingram and, I dunno, Deandre Ayton? It’s just not the same.

The NBA Cup championship has a new home next season.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday that the next NBA Cup championship on Dec. 11 will be held at Butler University’s Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Hinkle is one of the oldest arenas in the country, opening in 1928. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has previously expressed a desire for the league to hold the NBA Cup final in historic college arenas.

The 2026-27 title game will be the first held outside of Las Vegas.

The NBA had a contract with Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena on a year-by-year basis, leaving open the possibility of finding a new home. Now, that locale has been determined for this winter.

Hinkle has a capacity of just over 9,000 and has played host to several U.S. presidents, alongside the first U.S. vs. Soviet Union basketball games, circuses, tennis matches, and ice shows, among other events. It was also used as a barracks for American soldiers during World War II.

“Hinkle Fieldhouse offers a special setting to capture the excitement and drama of the Emirates NBA Cup Championship,” the league’s head of global events, Kelly Flatow, said in a statement. “Playing the championship in an iconic basketball environment like this will further establish it as a signature moment on the NBA calendar.”

The arena has been described as “as loud as loud gets”  by Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, who coached at Butler from 2001-13.

The Lakers won the inaugural in-season tournament in 2023, with the Bucks winning in 2024 and the Knicks winning in 2025 over the Spurs, a preview of the 2026 NBA Finals.

LeBron James’ blockbuster split with the Los Angeles Lakers has sparked fierce debate across Southern California, with veteran sports radio host Fred Roggin delivering one of the harshest assessments yet of the NBA superstar’s eight-year stint in the purple and gold.

Roggin, who co-hosts an afternoon sports show on KLAC and anchors “The Roggin Report” on NBC Palm Springs, argued that while James wore a Lakers uniform, he never truly embodied what the franchise has traditionally represented.

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it now: he wore a Laker uniform, but he wasn’t a Laker. I always felt that way,” Roggin said.

The comments came just hours after James confirmed he would leave Los Angeles fot free agency, ending a lengthy run with the franchise after informing the team they could move forward without him.

“He wore a Laker uniform but wasn’t a Laker. I always felt that way.” @FredRoggin on LeBron James’ time in Los Angeles. pic.twitter.com/ibvBDdAOtH

— AM 570 LA Sports (@AM570LASports) June 30, 2026

Team owner Jeanie Buss thanked James for his contributions, including helping deliver the franchise’s 2020 NBA championship, while James responded on X by thanking the organization and saying it had been “truly an honor” to wear the purple and gold.

LeBron James also broke his silence on his breakup with the Lakers Tuesday morning.

In a post on X, James kept things short, sweet and cordial, thanking Los Angeles for the last eight years with a three-sentence statement.

“No, THANK YOU!” He wrote in response to the Lakers wishing him well at his next destination.

“Truly a honor to wear the [purple and gold] while trying to continuing the greatness & legacies that came before me! Hope I made a few proud during my stint. ”

James joined the Lakers as a free agent in 2018 and made the All-Star team in each of his eight seasons in Los Angeles. During that span, he averaged 26.9 points, 7.7 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game while leading the franchise to its first championship in a decade during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

But Roggin questioned whether James’ legacy in Los Angeles was ever about the Lakers as much as it was about himself.

---

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

“I think with LeBron, it’s about LeBron,” Roggin said. “Even as this era comes to an end… the Lakers thanked LeBron for what he had done after LeBron decided and it was announced that he would not return. So, LeBron got to make that announcement.”

The longtime broadcaster also suggested the split ultimately boiled down to money, saying he believes contract negotiations played a larger role than basketball considerations.

“If the best offer out there was $15 million, you’d give them $16 million. Well, you have to take care of them, right?” Roggin said. “I think it simply came down to money, quite frankly.”

James exercised his $52.6 million player option for the 2025-26 season, but reports indicated he and agent Rich Paul were expected to seek another maximum contract from the Lakers before the two sides went their separate ways. With Los Angeles now out of the picture, the 41-year-old is expected to command significantly less if he joins a championship contender.

The Golden State Warriors have emerged as the betting favorites to land James, although they are currently projected to have only a mid-level exception worth roughly $15 million available unless additional roster moves are made.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat have also been linked to the four-time NBA champion, while teams with significant salary cap space could offer larger contracts but may not provide the same championship opportunity.

Roggin said he believed the Lakers were right not to feel pressured into paying James simply because of his stature.

“If they used the Dodgers’ philosophy instead of conventional wisdom — which was, ‘Well, you’ve got to give him $30 million because he’s LeBron’ — I kept saying, ‘Why would you bet against yourself?'” he said.

LeBron James gave Los Angeles an unforgettable eight years.

Not eight years of playoff dominance, rings, or the league bowing at his feet in terror the way it did in Cleveland or Miami. We’re talking eight years of being exactly what the Los Angeles Lakers needed, exactly when they needed it, at every stage of a tenure most people still haven’t properly appreciated.

When LeBron signed with the Lakers on July 1, 2018, this franchise hadn’t made the playoffs since 2013. Five straight lottery seasons. The Dwight Howard experiment failed and the D’Angelo Russell experiment stalled. The Lakers had become punchline material, a franchise coasting on historical cachet while fielding rosters that had no business wearing those colors.

LeBron James saved that HORRIBLY run franchise in 2018 and the Lakers fans were NEVER fully appreciative of the absolute LIFELINE LeBron threw the Buss family.

— Swipa (@SwipaCam) June 30, 2026

The Lakers never deserved LeBron James. Some of us remember the summer of 2018. When LeBron James, the best player in the world, chose to sign with a franchise that was the laughing stock of the league. They hadn’t sniffed the playoffs in five years. And they welcomed the best…

— Damien Peters (@DamienPetersNBA) June 30, 2026

Then, five months into his second Lakers season, Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash outside Los Angeles on January 26, 2020, and the city broke in half. LeBron had spent his entire career being measured against Kobe’s standard, watching Kobe’s fans use that name like a weapon every time the GOAT debate got heated. Now he was the face of the franchise Kobe built, carrying a city’s grief on top of a championship chase that had no roadmap for any of this. Then he took his team to a bubble in Orlando during Covid and won the whole thing against his ex-team Miami Heat.

The 2020 NBA Championship was won inside a sealed Disney World campus during a global pandemic, with social justice protests reshaping the country outside those walls. LeBron James led the Los Angeles Lakers to their first title in a decade. Anthony Davis was the engine, Rajon Rondo was the closer, and LeBron was the orchestrator who held every moving part together when pressure threatened to crack the whole operation. His playoff averages that postseason: 27.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, 8.8 assists. He secured his fourth Finals MVP at 35 years old, winning a championship for a city still in mourning.

Anyone clowning the LeBron-Lakers era is out of their mind. There is a reason 8 separate teams have won the title over the last 8 years. We live in an era of parity across the NBA largely due to the CBA. For the Lakers to have gotten one of those is what ultimately matters.

— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) June 30, 2026

Now here’s where the story gets specifically, historically brutal for Golden State, because LeBron didn’t just survive his Lakers years. He spent eight of them making the Warriors’ life annoying in ways that don’t always get assembled into one coherent argument.

• Christmas 2018, his first December in Los Angeles. He tears his groin in the third quarter against Golden State and the Lakers win by 26 anyway. The injury derails his entire first season as a Laker and it still wasn’t enough to save the Warriors on that floor.
• Play-In 2021. LeBron pulls up from the logo with the game on the line and drains it over Curry to effectively end Golden State’s season before the real playoffs even started. “I saw three rims,” he said afterward, “so I just aimed for the middle one.” That’s not a quote from a man who’s afraid of the moment.

• March 2022. The Lakers are cooked, missing the playoffs entirely, but LeBron shows up and scores 56 points against the team that will go on to win the NBA championship that June. It was the highest-scoring game of his entire Lakers career. One of only a handful of 55-plus games ever put up against a Steve Kerr Warriors team.
• Then 2023, which is the one Warriors fans are going to need a minute to revisit. Golden State entered that second-round series as defending champions, having never lost a Western Conference playoff series in the entire Steve Kerr era (19-0). Truly one of the most ridiculous sustained stretches of playoff dominance the modern game had seen. LeBron and the Lakers ended the conference invincibility in six games, halting GSW’s title defense in stunning fashion. This besmirched the Kerr-era mystique on the Western side of the bracket, burying it alive with LeBron was holding the shovel. He won his 41st career playoff series that night, breaking Derek Fisher’s all-time record, specifically by eliminating the franchise that had spent a decade being the measuring stick for everyone else.
• And then February 2025. LeBron dropped 42 points on the Warriors at 40 years old! What makes this genuinely one of the more absurd facts in NBA history is that LeBron James is both the youngest player ever to score 40 points in a game and the oldest.

Across 27 games against Golden State over eight seasons (playoffs included), LeBron went 18-9 while averaging 27 points, 9 rebounds, and nearly 8 assists on 51% shooting from the field and 41% from three. That’s pretty damn ridiculous.

This past April I wrote a piece called “This season robbed us of Stephen Curry vs LeBron James” because Curry sat out the final Warriors-Lakers regular season game to manage a back-to-back and we got zero Steph-LeBron matchups all year. I was genuinely frustrated writing it. But looking back now I understand it differently. The 2018 piece I wrote about Boogie Cousins joining the Warriors barely acknowledged LeBron’s arrival in Los Angeles, because the Warriors were the sun and everyone else was caught in their orbit. By 2026, I was writing eulogies for a rivalry because its absence felt like an actual loss to the sport. That’s what eight years of this man in purple and gold did to the conversation.

2018-2026. Peak hatewatch. Bron x Lakers.

One for the books. Salute.

Still hatewatching LAL. It'll just hit different.

— WarriorsMuse (@WarriorsMuse) June 30, 2026

The overall record will give skeptics ammunition: one championship and several unceremonious playoff exits during the Bron tenure in La La Land. But don’t forget that the Lakers were a zombie franchise when he arrived. He won them a title, steered them through the worst grief Los Angeles sports had felt in a generation, and won a championship in the most bizarre environment we’ve seen in modern sports history.

When LeBron arrived in LA, the Warriors were coming off four straight Finals appearances. When LeBron left LA, the Warriors were trying to sign him. That’s the ultimate sign of respect from a rival who made their championship throne off of the bones of LeBron’s Cavaliers.

For eight years, Warriors fans spent every Lakers game asking the same question: what does LeBron have tonight? Now they may spend the next two years asking the exact same question, only with very different expectations.

The NBA landscape was sent into a frenzy following a recent posting of a clip of an episode of LeBron James’s Mind the Game podcast featuring guest Stephen Curry. Ostensibly a retrospective look back at their dominant gold-medal run together at the Paris Olympics, the episode has quickly transformed into the center of rampant free agency speculation.

Steph appeared on LeBron’s podcast in November 2025

Why is LeBron’s podcast channel reuploading a segment with that title today? 🤔🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/DFZmsCy0av

— Chef (@CurryForGame) June 30, 2026

​On the show, James raved about sharing the court with his long-time rival, calling the experience “everything and more” and describing their on-court chemistry as “perfect.”

​The timing of the episode could not be more deliberate. With reports surfacing that James has informed the Los Angeles Lakers he intends to play elsewhere, the basketball world is treating this glowing review as a thinly veiled hint. After a career defined by battling one another in the NBA Finals, the allure of pairing LeBron’s elite playmaking with Curry’s legendary gravity in Golden State may finally become a reality.

However, it will come at a time where both legends are clearly in the twilight portion of their careers. Curry is turning 39 next season, while James is turning 42. Staying healthy will be a challenge next season.

There is also the question of what purpose this serves the Warriors. Is this a legitimate (albeit, seemingly futile) attempt to compete for a title? Or is it just a move for PR purposes in order to draw the crowds in, put butts in the seats, sell jerseys, and have the spotlight of the mainstream media trained on the Bay Area?

Only time will tell.

Hopes are high for the Utah Jazz as they prepare for their first winning season since the Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert era. They’ve brought on Darryn Peterson to help on the perimeter, and retained Jusuf Nurkic to hold down the paint. However, in order to achieve or surpass the lofty expectations Jazz fans have for their team, it would be nice to bring back Walker Kessler, the young, towering big man that Utah has developed over his first 4 years in the NBA. However, as a restricted free agent, the Jazz don’t have much leverage over the size of Kessler’s next contract – he takes meetings from any team interested, they can offer a deal, and the Jazz then have the opportunity to match that deal and retain Kessler, if they wish. So, Jazz fans have all been waiting on pins-and-needles for what that crucial contract number will end up being – will Walker come home, or will the proposal from another team be too rich to stomach? After the official beginning of free agency this evening, Tony Jones reports some interesting (and rather disheartening) information on the Walker Kessler bidding war.

Utah Jazz restricted free agent Walker Kessler has had meetings with a couple of teams and is headed to another meeting, league sources tell The Athletic. He holds multiple offers in the mid to high 30’s annually, along with structure of his choice, including player options

— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) June 30, 2026

This is larger than fans and, seemingly, the Jazz Brass were expecting. Jake Fischer reported that, at some point in the past year, Kessler would’ve accepted an offer for less than what his market is currently dictating. However, the Jazz didn’t bring Kessler a deal during rookie-scale contract negotiation that seemed serious to his camp, and the time for the initial, lower offer that Kessler would’ve accepted had passed.

I, for one, am surprised that the market is this favorable to Kessler. Operating under the assumption that he’s looking at deals with about 37.5 million dollars of annual value, it seems that the league believes he is a bona fide top 7 center in the league. For reference, in 2026-2027, Alperen Sengun and Rudy Gobert will each make 35.5 million, Jarrett Allen will make 28 million, Myles Turner will make 26.5 million, and Isaiah Hartenstein will make a measly (said with some sarcasm) 23 million. 37 million annually, with a player option, seems rich for an oft-injured center who has never played for a team that finished the season over .500.

The Lakers are the team that has been reported most consistently to be interested in Walker Kessler, but they clearly are not the only team willing to shell out 9 digits offer sheets to acquire the young center. Tony Jones specifies that he has multiple offers in that range – the Sacramento Kings and Brooklyn Nets could very well also be in this thick of this race, alongside the Lakers and Jazz.

With this report in mind, how much is too much for Walker Kessler? Would you be interested in a sign-and-trade? Who do you think has the wealthiest offer on the table? Sound off below!

The NBA world has been altered for the second time in a decade, as Kawhi Leonard has yet again made his way to the Toronto Raptors, seemingly in it for the long(ish) haul.

The exact details of the trade have been revealed by Shams Charania to be as follows.

Clippers Get:

• Brandon Ingram
• Gradey Dick
• 2031 First-Round Pick
• 2033 First-Round Pick
• 2030 Second-Round Pick
• 2033 Second-Round Pick
• 2027 First-Round Pick Swap

Raptors Get:

• Kawhi Leonard

What does this mean for the Raptors?

Trading Brandon Ingram for Kawhi Leonard allows the veteran to slot in seamlessly at the 3, providing a huge boost to the scoring gravity at that position, as well as an improvement to floor spacing. Leonard has shot a career 39.1% from the three point line, and last year, hit his highest volumes of threes taken, ever.

Gradey Dick as a prospect certainly had a high upside, but a massive drop in production last year as well as the team’s health improving forced him out of the starting lineup, giving him few minutes and difficulty developing the guard. Relinquishing him, as opposed to Jamal Shead or Collin Murray-Boyles, was the correct move for the Raptors if they want to be competitive with Leonard on their roster.

As for the picks, Toronto is in both the short term and the long term giving something up. The 2027 pick swap, as per Michael Grange of Sportsnet, is largely inconsequential, but the picks given up in the 2030s mean that Toronto has cleared its way for title contention until the end of the decade, when they’ll have to start paying the piper. The rest of the 2020s are a chance not only to contend, but to trade, draft, and have the flexibility to make moves that could make Toronto NBA Champions yet again.

The dates on these picks are significant. A swap for ‘27 not material (Clips should have the better pick anyway in a weak draft). But 31 and 33 unprotected is not nothing. Kawhi will be long gone, Barnes will be 30 and 32 yo. 🤷 https://t.co/smx0LRu1qu

— Michael Grange (@michaelgrange) June 30, 2026

I disagree with Grange’s emphasis on the importance of the 2o31 and 2033 picks, however. While of course, the Raptors are borrowing against their future to try to succeed in the present, to contend in the NBA is to take risks, and there may not be a better shot to win than now. Barnes hitting his 30s is something I am not worried about, rather relish, as many of the league’s superstars only end up getting better after hitting a decade or so in the NBA.

LeBron James was 31 when he took Cleveland to the NBA Finals for the second time and won, and Scottie Pippen was making All-Defensive Teams well into his third decade. Barnes’ style of play falls in line with the two point forwards, and nothing about his’ health projects a huge decline at that point, anyways. Even Kawhi, now playing beside Barnes, had arguably hit a new peak at 34 year old, rivalling his Raptors’ season and his best years on the Spurs. If Barnes stays with the Raptors, I would be willing to bet that he is a player who also will only improve with age and experience.

The other value of getting Kawhi is the opposite of the risk that 2018 was. Then, the Raptors had only a year to win an NBA Championship, but now, the whole reason Kawhi is coming to Toronto is because he wants a long term contract that will keep him on a team, and in the NBA, for years to come. Toronto has never been a free-agent destination, nor a place where huge trades have happened — other than when the Raptors got Kawhi. Getting a premier scorer through the draft is not something that the Raptors have seemed willing to tank for, so Kawhi is, ironically, a safe choice when looking for a number one option.

This is the moment that choosing a short rebuild pays off for the Raptors. In less than three years, they have managed to put together a very competent team through trades and draft, fighting through some painful years and even more painful goodbyes to franchise favourites. Now, after getting Kawhi, the team is really only a centre or two away from being one of the top two teams in the East. History in some ways seems to be repeating itself, and searching for a Serge Ibaka and a Marc Gasol should be the priority of this front office.

In baseball, you need a big swing to hit a home run, and with Kawhi on our team, there is no reason not to be swinging for the fences. This is the chance to take, picks and players be damned.

The 2026 NBA free agency negotiation window has officially opened, and LeBron James remains at the forefront of the conversation.

James’ agent, Rich Paul, told Rob Pelinka and the Los Angeles Lakers' front office that the 23-year NBA veteran would not return to the franchise and would explore other options.

James spent eight seasons with the Lakers, the longest single stint in his career. The partnership proved to be mutually beneficial to both sides. 

The 4-time NBA MVP provided the Lakers with their 17th NBA championship – second behind the Boston Celtics – in 2020 during the COVID-19-impacted season. He also reached several individual milestones, including becoming the league’s all-time leading scorer.

In return, the Lakers catered to James by drafting his son, Bronny James, in 2024 and appointing JJ Redick as head coach.

Redick and LeBron co-hosted a podcast before Redick was hired.

James decided to move on from Los Angeles, and thanked the team with a heartfelt post on social media, Tuesday, June 30, writing, "Truly a honor to wear the (purple and gold) while trying to continuing the greatness & legacies that came before me! Hope I made a few proud during my stint."

When it comes to what teams James will consider ahead of his 24th NBA season, the superstar has reportedly told his agent to talk with teams around the league and learn what everyone’s interests are so he can make an informed decision, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

Is LeBron James heading to Golden State?

James played for the Lakers, the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers during his career. He could potentially add a fourth team to that list and sign with the Golden State Warriors.

Golden State was rumored to have strong interest in signing James as a free agent and working out a trade to acquire Anthony Davis from the Washington Wizards to join Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. But ESPN’s Marc J. Spears reported that the Wizards were not interested in trading Davis and were not listening to offers.

If Davis is not available, the Warriors could potentially keep Jimmy Butler, who would still need time to recover from the ACL tear in his right knee.

James has spoken highly of Curry when the pair played in the 2024 Olympics together for Team USA and won a gold medal.

Will Cavaliers welcome LeBron James home?

James is also said to be interested in a potential reunion with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cavs could welcome home the star that brought the team its first NBA title in 2016 when he returned to the franchise for his second stint.

James was drafted by the Cavaliers with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft. He spent the first seven years of his career in Cleveland, winning two MVP awards. His second stint started with the 2014-15 season, spending four years with the team.

In a potential third stint, he would be joining a team that reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2026, has Donovan Mitchell under contract for next season and intends to re-sign James Harden.

 Will LeBron James take his talents back to Miami Heat?

Much like with Cleveland, there’s a potential for James to land with his other former team.

James won back-to-back titles in Miami in the middle of his four-year stint from 2010-2014 after forming a super team with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade as a member of the Heat.

If James decided to head to South Beach, he would form a new threat in the Eastern Conference alongside Bam Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LeBron James latest rumors: Where will superstar play next season?

The Lakers have open roster spots to fill, and ideally those players will be centers or wings.

These are two areas the Lakers need to improve on to help elevate Luka Dončić. He wants a big to play off of and good wings give him players he can pass to that can shoot from the perimeter and apply pressure on the rim.

Kelly Oubre Jr. is a player who fits the latter profile. According to Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports, the 6’8 wing plans to meet with the Lakers.

Free agent wing Kelly Oubre Jr. plans to meet with the 76ers, Pacers, Blazers and Lakers among others, sources tell @YahooSports.

— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) June 30, 2026

While landing a player like Jalen Duren is difficult for the Lakers since he’s a restricted free agent, Oubre Jr. doesn’t have that roadblock. He is an unrestricted free agent, so if his reported meeting with the Lakers goes well, he can easily join the team.

Oubre Jr. was a productive player for the Sixers this past season, averaging 14.1 points, 5.0 rebounds per game and shot a career-best 36% from 3-point range.

While his numbers are solid, Oubre Jr. did have some breakout games. He scored 20-plus points on nine occasions. His most explosive game during the regular season came against the Grizzlies. In that contest, he had 30 points and 12 rebounds.

In the playoffs, Oubre Jr. had a strong series against the Knicks. He averaged 15.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and shot 42.9% from 3-point range.

Health could be a concern. He played a career-low 50 games this season and had some key injuries, including a sprain of the lateral collateral ligament in his left elbow and a left knee LCL sprain.

If he can stay healthy, though, he could be a quality player for the purple and gold. He made $8.3 million last year and this is a tough market, so we’ll see what kind of deal he signs and whether it’s with the Lakers.

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

The Lakers now have lots of money and lots of holes to fill heading into free agency without LeBron James on the roster. While it might be the right time to move on from him, it’s a lot of production to replace.

The team is going to replace him in the aggregate and will need a number of new faces to come in and help do so. Reports have already come out about them looking at Quentin Grimes or Sandro Mamukelashvili, but another name the team could target is Tobias Harris.

On Tuesday afternoon, Dave McMenamin of ESPN appeared on SportsCenter and reported that the team has discussed Harris as a forward option.

The Lakers Are Interested In Tobias Harris, Quentin Grimes, And Dean Wade. Per, @mcten

“Lakers have mulled over internally are Tobias Harris from the Detroit Pistons, Quentin Grimes of the Philadelphia 76ers, who was a teammate of Luka's in Dallas in the past, and also Dean… pic.twitter.com/Mi2f9paJKi

— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) June 30, 2026

Earlier this season, McMenamin reported Harris as a name the team had considered as a potential free agent signing. So, this isn’t the first time he’s been linked to the Lakers for this offseason.

Harris is certainly a polarizing player. In Philadelphia, he was a lightning rod for the team’s shortcomings. However, his time in Detroit has been far better and, in the playoffs last season, he was one of the few players for the Pistons who showed up.

Last season, he averaged 13.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while shooting 46.9% from the field and 36.8% from the 3-point line. Generally speaking, those are a tick below his career marks in each category, though he has been a career 36.6% shooter from range.

In the postseason, his numbers jumped to 18.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game on 42.5% shooting overall and 29.2% from range.

If Harris is seen as a replacement for Rui Hachimura, who certainly has suitors across the league, then it’s clear that he’s a notable downgrade. If he’s seen as another wing to add to the roster along with Rui and others, then he makes more sense.

But there are a lot of moving pieces the Lakers are going to have to juggle in the opening hours and days of free agency.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

The Heat aren’t slowing down this offseason. 

Just eight days after trading for superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Heat have agreed to a one-year, $6.5 million deal with Tim Hardaway Jr., ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday.

NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer previously reported Hardaway was among the players to receive “priority” interest from the Heat this offseason. 

The 34-year-old guard spent last season with the Nuggets, but has bounced around the league between the Knicks, Hawks, Mavericks and Pistons. 

After spending three years at Michigan and scoring 13 points per game or more in each, the Knicks took a chance on Hardaway in the 2013 NBA Draft. 

Hardaway’s first stint in New York was a mixed bag, as he displayed brilliance from beyond the arc but struggled to be consistent. He averaged nearly 11 points per game over his first two seasons with the Knicks. 

He then joined the Hawks for two years before returning to the Knicks for a second stint from 2017-19, where he saw increased minutes despite poor efficiency. 

In the Knicks’ woeful 17-65 season in 2018-19, Hardaway averaged a career-high 19.1 points per game despite shooting just 38.8 percent from the field. 

Hardaway then spent the next five years with the Mavericks and Luka Doncic from 2019-24, and he averaged between 14 and 17 points per game each season while becoming a solid 3-point shooter. 

Following one season with the Pistons, Hardaway averaged 13.5 points per game with the Nuggets last season, though he started just six games. 

Hardaway brings much-needed shooting to a forward-heavy team with Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo, Bobby Portis and Andrew Wiggins. 

After losing to the Hornets in the play-in round, the Heat continue to make moves this offseason in hopes of competing with the Eastern Conference’s best.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Celtics fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

With the draft in the rearview and the Celtics staring at the start of free agency and (hopefully) a conclusion to this Jaylen Brown trade saga, it’s been an eventful last two weeks in Boston. But for anybody who misses the squeaking of sneakers on the parquet, we’re also just a week away from actual basketball. The NBA Summer League starts on July 9th in Las Vegas with Boston playing on Friday and Sunday to kick off their exhibition schedule next week.

Frankly, it’ll be a nice break from all the drama.

At the draft, the Celtics selected Chris Cenac Jr. with the 27th pick in the first round and on Night 2, went with Dillon Mitchell at #40. Both will be at The Strip for their first NBA action. Tatum’s friend from their Duke days, Amile Jefferson, will be the head coach.

Cenac was the fifth ranked high school player in 2025 before being coached hard as a system player under Kelvin Sampson at The University of Houston. As CelticsBlog’s Rich Jensen writes:

Chris didn’t choose a school that would give him star treatment. He went with a coach who promised only that he would make him a better player. College was not a reward for being one of the best of the best, it was just another stop on the road.

Many draft experts love the kid’s potential and a standout performance from Cenac would be a great way to start off his career in Boston.

Hugo Gonzalez and Amari Williams are also expected to suit up for the Summer Celtics. Williams recently inked a new deal with the team to return on a two-way contract and Joe Mazzulla just spent some time in Spain with Gonzalez as he preps for FIBA play. For the sophomores, Summer League is a good proving ground to show that last season’s success wasn’t a fluke and what new things they’ve been working on since the season ended.

However, if a resolution hasn’t been reached, all eyes might be on Jaylen Brown and Brad Stevens. Traditionally, players, coaches, and front office staff also attend the Vegas proceedings to support the team, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be tension in Thomas & Mack or Cox Pavilion. Back in 2018, Marcus Smart and his agent attended a few games while he was still negotiating with Danny Ainge on a new deal, even going as far as talking with brass of other teams. Could there be an awkward or encouraging moment between Stevens and Brown amid all the drama? If there is, well, let’s just hope that whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

On Tuesday, as the NBA’s Free Agency period opened, the Minnesota Timberwolves wasted no time making a move to fill out their roster.

As reported by Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, Bones Hyland has agreed to return to the Timberwolves next season. The Wolves are signing Hyland to a one-year league minimum deal.

Hyland originally came to Minnesota in February of 2025, playing in just four games down the stretch of that season. Bones returned to the Wolves for the 2025-26 season, eventually earning a permanent rotation spot in December.

Following the promotion to the rotation, Hyland averaged 9.7 points per game across 57 games for the Timberwolves. Now, Hyland is set to return to Minnesota for his third different season with the organization

Bones has become a fan favorite in Minnesota, with his “skelly celly” celebration becoming a sensation at both Target Center and across the street at Target Field. Hyland has also flourished with newfound backcourt-mate Ayo Dosunmu, with the pairing being dubbed the Twin Turbos.

EVERYONE DO THE SKELLY CELLY 🦴 pic.twitter.com/8sHQjbI8XI

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) April 5, 2026

Hyland and Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly have an obvious affection for each other, as Connelly drafted Bones back with the Denver Nuggets in 2021 and has not kept him with the Timberwolves for the second straight offseason.

I’m very appreciative of them,” Hyland said of Timberwolves leadership back in May. “Tim [Connelly] drafted me in Denver. Him just coming to get me; we have that bond already. I’m close with the staff that he has had with Denver and this front office staff [in Minnesota].”

“Also, Finchy, man,” Hyland continued. “Just giving me the opportunity to come out and play has been big for me. Just the trust he has in me. It’s been everything, I ain’t gonna lie.”