Category: Basketball

LeBron James is leaving us all hanging in suspense while his agent, Rich Paul, adds fuel to the fire. Paul (via his podcast Game Over) recently shared a behind-the-scenes look at their process in finding a new home for James. This includes a whiteboard with the Cleveland Cavaliers listed as one of the strongest landing spots.

There’s a lot to unpack here.

First, we can see that the Cavs are not alone on this list. Other teams in the inner circle include the Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers, and Denver Nuggets. The Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics, and New York Knicks are either directly listed or referenced on the outer edges of the board.

Paul says that the board wouldn’t even exist if New York hadn’t won the title this summer. James would be a member of the Knicks. Looks like we dodged a bullet in that regard.

Let’s go over the main takeaways for Cleveland.

Rich Paul on LeBron’s interest in the Cavs:

• Brandon Weems (current assistant GM) is a ‘brother’ to James
• Dan Gilbert, Grant Gilbert and Koby Altman listed as positives
• James ‘loves’ Darius Garland; Paul considers the James Harden trade a negative
• Paul says Evan Mobley was never going to be traded to Boston

Notably, the Cavs are the only team that has multiple pros and cons written on the board.

“Big, big x-factor, Brandon Weems is basically LeBron’s brother,” said Paul. “That is a big feather in the cap [for Cleveland].”

The connection to Weems is one of the strongest aspects of this. Weems is reportedly seen as the favorite to replace former Cleveland GM Mike Gansey (now the 76ers GM) as the Cavs’ newest general manager. That’s something that sweetens the deal for James to return to Cleveland.

James apparently having a positive relationship with Gilbert and Altman is also a good sign.

The final two bullet points are where things get interesting.

“The negative is, no knock to James Harden, but no Darius Garland,” said Paul. “LeBron loves Darius Garland so much just like LeBron loves Tyrese Maxey.”

Paul famously told Garland, whom he represents, that last year would be his final season with the Cavaliers. However, this can be interpreted as Paul reading the writing on the wall rather than pioneering a trade for Garland on his own. You can decide that for yourself.

I’d also keep in mind that Paul is a professional salesman who will take every opportunity to praise one of his clients. Rightfully so.

It’s possible that Paul informed Garland to make a decision that would be in his best interest — even if that negatively impacted the view that James would have of Cleveland’s roster. Those things are not mutually exclusive, and Paul ultimately has a responsibility to represent all of his clients equally.

Finally, Paul strongly denies that Cleveland had any intention of trading Mobley to the Celtics in exchange for Jaylen Brown.

“They weren’t giving up Evan Mobley, you don’t have to worry about that,” said Paul.

This is as firm a stance as you can take, and it implies that Mobley is safe from the trading block this summer.

That tracks with common sense. Mobley is one of the best defenders in the NBA and a vital part of a Cavalier defense that is hanging on by a thread. I can’t see why James or Paul would advocate for taking that building block off the roster. Trading Mobley feels like the type of risk that could knock down the house of cards before James even arrives.

As always, the more smoke, the better. James has taken the first step towards returning by announcing that he won’t be back with the Los Angeles Lakers. Everything since then has felt like a gradual pull back home. Only time will tell, but Paul’s comments on Cleveland are encouraging to me.

Nearly 48 hours after the Sixers agreed to trade Paul George, two first-round picks and two second-round picks to the Boston Celtics for Jaylen Brown, the consensus appears to be that the Sixers made out like bandits.

ESPN’s Zach Kram gave the Sixers an A- and the Celtics a D+ for the trade. CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn gave the Sixers an A+ and the Celtics a D-. Yahoo Sports’ Morten Stig Jensen was more generous in giving the Celtics a B, but he still gave the Sixers an A.

However, that opinion isn’t universal. Liberty Ballers’ own Josh Grieb expressed his reservations with the deal, and to be completely honest, I also flinched when the news first hit my timeline. (Granted, that was before I realized that one of the two first-rounders they gave up was in 2028 rather than 2033.)

Chalk it up to Markelle Fultz PTSD if you must. Maybe you’re an analytics nerd who’s overly concerned about Brown’s on/off splits in recent years. That’s ignoring the context in which the Sixers made this trade, though.

Look up any recent ranking of the worst contracts in the league. George routinely appeared toward the top of the list. Even rankings that featured Brown had George ranked higher.

George has one fewer year left on his contract and will not be commanding anything close to a 35 percent max on his next deal, sure. Brown very well might be overpaid relative to his production, both now and moving forward.

But this was a risk that the Sixers had to take.

So long, Sixers apathy

As of midday Wednesday, apathy would likely be the best way to describe how most fans felt about the Sixers.

Adding Dean Wade was fine in a vacuum. Signing Ariel Hukporti to an above-minimum contract was eyebrow-raising, and not in a good way. Adding Wade and Hukporti while losing Quentin Grimes and Kelly Oubre Jr. hardly moved the needle, particularly as other Eastern Conference teams were taking huge swings by adding the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard.

With Brown in tow, the Sixers can think bigger again. They dropped from +6000 to +2000 to win next year’s title after the deal, according to ESPN’s Doug Greenberg, which puts them behind only the Oklahoma City Thunder (+270), the San Antonio Spurs (+270), the reigning champion New York Knicks (+850) and, ironically, the Celtics (+1300).

It’s unclear whether the Brown trade directly contributed to the Sixers landing Anfernee Simons with what figures to be the remainder of their non-taxpayer mid-level exception, but it appears to have helped. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Simons chose the Sixers over other suitors because he believes “his fit is perfect with the revamped 76ers roster.”

The Sixers might not be done there, either. It’s still a long shot—particularly since they have only a minimum contract left to offer—but the Sixers have “entered the mix” for LeBron James and “are attempting to pitch him,” according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater.

Even if the Sixers don’t land LeBron, the fact that it’s even a possibility is absurd given where they were a few days ago. On The Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN’s Bobby Marks said it likely would have cost the Sixers at least one unprotected first-round pick just to dump George alone.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst then asked him, “So, did they get Jaylen Brown for free?” Marks replied, “Essentially.”

So, why did the Celtics part ways with Brown at that price?

“It wasn’t that the league doesn’t think Jaylen Brown is a great player or an excellent player,” Windhorst said Thursday on NBA Today. “It’s that the league doesn’t value what he produces at his salary slot. At $57 million, what he produces. And that is why he was traded, and that is why he was traded for relatively so little.

“As the Celtics evaluated where they were as an organization and evaluated where they have to operate in this new world of aprons and basically hard salary caps and everything like that, they said they had to move off of a player of his production level at that salary number, and the other teams out there didn’t disagree.”

That’s a reasonable conclusion for the Celtics to reach. They already have Jayson Tatum heading into the second season of a five-year supermax contract. They’ve spent the past year tearing down their championship roster in fear of a $500 million payroll and luxury-tax bill. After losing in the first round of the playoffs (ironically to the Sixers), they might not have seen a path back toward title contention with Tatum and Brown gobbling up roughly 70 percent of the cap every year.

The Sixers didn’t have much of an alternative.

George and Joel Embiid were going to consume roughly 70 percent of their salary cap for the next two years. The Sixers could have chosen to ride those years out and preserved their assets for the eventual Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe era. But how would Maxey take to the Sixers lighting two years of his prime on fire in the hope that George and Embiid could stay healthy throughout the regular season and the playoffs?

Maxey is already heading into the third year of the five-year, $203.9 million max contract that he signed in July 2024. By the time George’s contract expired, Maxey would be going into the last year of his deal. And if today’s NBA has taught us anything, it’s that teams are almost always on the clock with their star players.

Flipping George, who played only 78 total games across the last two seasons combined, for Brown, who played 71 games last year and has yet to miss more than 20 games in a season across his 10-year NBA career, could help the Sixers in multiple ways, analytics be damned.

The Sixers shouldn’t have to play Maxey a league-high 38.0 minutes per game again this year, particularly after signing Simons in free agency and drafting Labaron Philon Jr. with the No. 22 overall pick. Ensuring that Maxey and Edgecombe don’t run out of gas in the regular season is key to the Sixers’ hopes of going on a deep playoff run.

As long as Brown continues to avoid catastrophic injuries, he should also help uplift the Sixers more than George did in the games that Embiid misses. Brown finished sixth in the MVP race this past season, while George’s production plummeted upon his arrival in Philly two years ago.

George’s scalability is what made him an attractive option when the Sixers signed him two summers ago. He could shift down into a No. 3 option alongside Embiid and Maxey—and his off-ball shooting ability made him a strong fit for that role—but he theoretically could scale up whenever Embiid or Maxey missed time. However, that didn’t come to pass.

George admitted after the season that he felt like his explosiveness “wasn’t there this year,” and he planned to spend the offseason trying to figure out how (if at all) he could get it back. That won’t be a problem with Brown, to say the least.

There are undeniably questions about how Brown will fit with this Sixers roster, and whether he can live up to both his current contract and his next deal. He might very well be miscast as a No. 1 option. Luckily, he doesn’t have to be that in Philly.

The alternative to the Brown trade was running out the clock with George—and risking Maxey starting to eye an exit from Philly in the next year or two. From that standpoint, this was absolutely a risk worth taking, no matter what the Sixers’ recent transaction history with the Celtics might suggest.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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Life moves fast in the NBA, and after the much-hyped draft and a flurry of offseason moves, Summer League is already here.

Attention turns to the California Classic today, with the San Antonio Spurs battling the Miami Heat before the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Golden State Warriors Blue squad, and it’s a first opportunity to see some of the late first-round rookies in action.

Let's dive into my NBA Summer League predictions and free NBA picks for Friday, July 3.

NBA Summer League predictions for July 3

Pick
Spurs moneyline	-127
Lakers moneyline	-108

Today's Summer League Picks

Spurs moneyline (-127 at Kalshi)

Although none of the San Antonio Spurs’ young core will be in action at Chase Center tonight, that clears the way for Tarris Reed Jr. and other members of the San Antonio rookie class to ball out.

Reed Jr., the No. 26 pick, averaged 14.7 ppg and 9.0 rpg last season at UConn, and I expect him to seize this opportunity to make a case for bench minutes next season behind Victor Wembanyama.

Though Jayden Quaintance will miss out for the Spurs, second-round picks Ja'Kobi Gillespie and Mailq Brown should get minutes here, and San Antonio’s serious approach to summer action could be seen in its 5-3 record last year.

While the Miami Heat can turn to Myron Gardner — who appeared in 45 NBA contests last season — the trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo leaves Miami with fewer young pieces for a Summer League run.

Of course, the Heat specialize in discovering undrafted gems, but they face an uphill battle in this California Classic opener, and I’m taking the Spurs up to -140.

Lakers moneyline (-108 at Kalshi)

The Los Angeles Lakers have been busy undergoing roster reconstruction over the past few weeks, and now attention turns to the end of the bench, where spots are up for grabs. L.A. enters as a major underdog against the Golden State Warriors, but I’m expecting an upset in California.

Golden State can unleash rookies Yaxel Lendeborg and Alex Toohey alongside sophomore Will Richard, but don’t sleep on this Lakers squad, with Cameron Carr — the No. 24 selection in last month’s draft — running the offense and Adou Thiero looking to boost his stock.

Thiero had some promising flashes during last season’s injury crisis in Lakerland, and there’s a 3-and-D role within reach if he catches the eye in Summer League.

Meanwhile, a rookie-heavy roster will get a jolt of experience from Zhaire Smith, with the 27-year-old former first-round pick auditioning for L.A. this summer.

Friday’s NBA Summer League parlay

Spurs moneyline

Lakers moneyline

+244 at Kalshi

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Report: Drummond to join defending champion Knicks  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Andre Drummond is reportedly headed to the defending NBA champions in free agency.

The 32-year-old big man has agreed to sign a one-year, $3.9 million contract with the Knicks, HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto reported Friday.

New York just lost a major piece of its center picture with Mitchell Robinson agreeing to a three-year Celtics deal. Ariel Hupkorti will sign with the Sixers, too. On paper, Drummond has a good chance to log consistent minutes.

Drummond’s played in 152 games over two stints with the Sixers and averaged 6.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists. He shared backup center minutes with Adem Bona the past two seasons and took pride in being an active mentor to the ultra-athletic 23-year-old.

Drummond enjoyed expanding his game to include regular three-pointers last season. He went 32 for 90 (35.6 percent) beyond the arc. Entering the year, Drummond had made just 18 threes in his NBA career. The transformation wasn’t as dramatic, but Drummond also set a new career high in free throw percentage, making 63.1 percent of his foul shots. 

“There’s a lot of work that I’ve put into it, not only this year but throughout my entire career,” Drummond said on April 15 of his outside shooting. “I’ve worked countless hours … and the work is showing. Shoutout to (Sixers head coach) Nick Nurse for giving me the green light to shoot those shots.”

At the time of writing, Bona, Hukporti and Johni Broome are the Sixers’ centers behind Joel Embiid.

Success has a cost – but the Knicks’ extreme success is an expense on everyone else.

With the Knicks winning 13 straight playoff games, sweeping two consecutive opponents and making short work of the Spurs in a five-game series in the NBA Finals, the NBA’s salary cap will be much lower than previously expected, according to ESPN.

When the NBA negotiated a $77 billion media rights deal, tripling the previous deal in total value, it attempted to curb the drastic increase in the salary cap by elevating it by a maximum of 10 percent.

After the Knicks’ run, though, the upcoming salary cap jump is reportedly just 6.7 percent in the first year of the new media-years deal, which lasts 11 years.

That the Knicks needed just nine games total across the conference finals and NBA Finals — four in the conference, five in the Finals — factored into the dip, per ESPN.

The salary cap is currently $165 million, so the projected increase of 6.7 percent would land it at $175.73 million.

If it had gone up the full 10 percent, the salary cap would sit at $181.5 million.

The NBA warned that the salary cap increase might not reach the 10 percent number, but the Knicks’ postseason dominance is having even further resounding impacts than had previously been anticipated.

The Knicks played in just 19 postseason games on their dominant run to an NBA championship, where they outscored opponents by 14.9 points per game, the best differential in NBA playoff history.

The 19 playoff games played by a champion are tied for the second-fewest in the NBA since 2002 and are only beaten by the 2017 Warriors, who added Kevin Durant to a 72-9 team.

The 2001 Lakers went 15-1 and remain the gold standard for teams in terms of dominance.

Many even pointed out that the Knicks’ payroll management, which included Jalen Brunson taking a discount of more than $100 million, helped them assemble a team with an incredible talent base, including a deep bench.

While the Lakers got their A-list center in Walker Kessler, Friday’s move to trade Deandre Ayton means the team is once again searching for a big.

LA dealt Ayton to the Wizards for cap relief and draft picks, opening up the backup big spot. Immediately, the team was linked to multiple players, including Andre Drummond and Kevon Looney.

Drummond is an elite rebounder who could come in and make the most of the opportunity. This would be Drummond’s return to LA as he was with the team during the 2020-21 season. Last year, as a backup with the Sixers, he averaged 6.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.

Kevon Looney or Jonas Valančiūnas are also viable bigs the Lakers could pursue.

Looney is an 11-year vet who spent his first decade with the Warriors. Last season, he joined the Pelicans but played limited minutes, averaging just 2.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.

Valančiūnas is a name that’s been linked to the Lakers for years now. However, it’s important to note that he has committed to a EuroLeague team, so Valančiūnas might not be an option for LA.

He played in 65 games for the Nuggets last season, averaging 8.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. As a backup in LA, he would make a ton of sense, providing size and strength, along with rebounding and scoring ability.

Nick Richards is another name that’s being reported as a player that could end up with the Lakers.

Richards has bounced around the NBA playing on three different teams in his six-year career. Last season, he averaged 5.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.

The reported trade involving Ayton is a surprise, but it all but guarantees that other moves are coming. The Lakers can’t enter the season with so few bigs, so whether it’s Drummond, Looney, Richards, or someone else, more frontcourt help will have to be arriving.

Stay tuned Lakers fans, the front office is cooking. Hopefully, it’s something everyone will want to eat.

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

The Lakers have traded center Deandre Ayton to the Washington Wizards for guard Jaden Hardy and two second-round draft picks, in 2031 and 2032, people not authorized to speak publicly on the matter confirmed to The Times on Friday.

Ayton picked up his player option for $8.1 million on Sunday.

But it became obvious that he was expendable as the starting center once the Lakers acquired 24-year-old center Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz in a sign-and-trade deal worth four years and $130 million.

The Lakers now will be in the market for a backup center.

Centers such as Andre Drummond, Jonas Valanciunas and Kevon Looney are still available. Drummond played 21 games for the Lakers during the 2020-21 season, when he was picked up on the buyout market.

The Lakers acquired Ayton last season after the Portland Trail Blazers bought out his contract, and then signed him to a two-year, $16-million deal.

Read more:First-round pick Cameron Carr signs Lakers rookie contract

He averaged 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in 72 games last season with the Lakers while shooting 67.1% from the field.

The Wizards believe the 7-foot Ayton will be a good fit alongside centers Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr.

The 6-3 Hardy, who spent three-plus seasons with the Dallas Mavericks before being traded in February to Washington, averaged 9.2 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists while shooting 42.4% from the field and 39.7% from three-point range last season.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

After a quiet opening night of free agency, the Lakers got to work. On July 1, they agreed to a sign-and-trade for Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler and agreed to sign Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Collin Sexton. A week later, they added Kevon Looney on a one-year, veteran-minimum contract, and they’ve since signed Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle to minimum deals as well.

In total, the Lakers have shelled out more than a quarter-billion dollars this summer. After entering free agency with the ability to create more than $50 million in salary-cap space, they’re now out of spending power.

The Lakers have no remaining salary-cap exceptions after spending the room MLE, so they can only offer minimum contracts to other free agents for now.

Since Looney, Williams and Thybulle are signing one-year vet-min deals, they will each count as only $2.45 million on the Lakers’ books. The Lakers are now also hard-capped at the first apron after acquiring Kessler via sign-and-trade.

Here’s a look at where the Lakers stand financially in the wake of their free-agent flurry.

After signing Thybulle, the Lakers are now projected to be roughly $600,000 above the $200.4 million luxury-tax line and roughly $13 million below their first-apron hard cap.

Since the Lakers can’t cross the first apron this season, they will have considerable in-season trade flexibility. Teams above the first apron can’t take back more salary than they send out in trades, but teams below it can take back significantly more.

Kessler, Grimes, Mamukelashvili and Sexton won’t be trade-eligible until Dec. 15 at the earliest, but that’s something to file away for ahead of the trade deadline.

Can the Lakers create more cap space?

Between Reaves, Sexton, Grimes, Luka Dončić and rookie Cameron Carr, the Lakers now appear to be set in the backcourt. Their frontcourt is also in fairly good shape between Kessler, Mamukelashvili, Looney, Vanderbilt and Jake LaRavia.

However, their situation at the three leaves much to be desired even after the addition of Thybulle and Williams, barring a massive leap from either Adou Thiero or an immediate impact from Carr.

Even if Reaves, Dončić and Grimes all start together in a three-guard lineup, the Lakers could use some additional wing help. They have a few pathways to continue adding to their roster this offseason despite being capped out.

Now that the Lakers have officially signed Reaves to his new contract, they cannot create additional cap space this offseason. Salary-dumping Vanderbilt’s $12.4 million deal would help push them far below the tax line, but it wouldn’t given them more spending power.

Their best bet would be using Vanderbilt’s contract in a sign-and-trade. That would allow them to offer someone (Jonathan Kuminga?) a starting salary as high as roughly $21.5 million.

As the game of free-agency musical chairs runs out, the Lakers might be able to snag a wing for cheap — perhaps even on a minimum contract — since they can offer a legitimate role. Playing alongside an elite playmaker like Dončić could help players improve their market value moving forward, too. But if the Lakers hang on to Vanderbilt, they’re likely done with their big moves in free agency.

Do the additions of Kessler, Mamukelashvili, Grimes, Sexton, Looney, Williams and Thybulle outweigh the departures of LeBron James, Luke Kennard, Marcus Smart, Ayton and Hachimura? Do the Lakers have something else up their sleeves? We’ll find out soon enough.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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As soon as LeBron James informed the Los Angeles Lakers that he would be signing elsewhere in free agency this offseason, the Golden State Warriors were thought to be among the most likely teams to land him.

However, it seems that one key holdup in the Warriors’ pursuit of another star player could keep them from signing James, which ESPN’s NBA insider Shams Charania asserted during a July 3 appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up” podcast.

When asked which teams he believes have a “legitimate” shot at landing James in free agency, Charania said: “At least a few. But this is a true free agency process, because so much has changed, right? There’s fluidity that comes with it, with information. A few days ago, the [Philadelphia 76ers] didn’t have Jaylen Brown. So now they do … So now they have to be on the radar of LeBron James.”

“The [Cleveland] Cavaliers, the [Miami] Heat — they’re two teams that are known quantities. The Warriors, going into free agency; they dreamt up a grand plan of Draymond Green, Stephen Curry, LeBron James,” Charania continued.

“The big domino with them is trying to get a player like an Anthony Davis, so you can bring in LeBron James and Anthony Davis as a package deal. Short of that, they’re not really looked at right now at the top of this list. But things can change.”

Charania is alluding to Golden State’s interest in signing James’ former Lakers running-mate, Davis, as a way to entice the NBA record-breaker to bring his talents to the Bay Area.

But the Washington Wizards (with whom Davis is under contract through next season) have asserted that they have no intention of trading him at this point.

Since the prospect of reuniting with Davis was seen as a big reason why LeBron might want to join the Warriors, that no longer being realistic presents a tough reality check for Golden State.

Then again, the Warriors still have Curry, who James would surely love to play alongside. And as Charania said himself, things can change very quickly in the free agency landscape.

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The Philadelphia 76ers are rounding out their eventful free agency week with two-way signings, it seems. Fresh off inking Rayan Rupert to a two-way deal, they’ve now signed former Portland Trail Blazer Caleb Love to a two-way contract. ESPN’s Shams Charania was the first to report the news:

For those who aren’t familiar with Love, he’s a former five-star recruit with quite an extensive college resume. He played five years in the NCAA, three with the North Carolina Tar Heels, later transferring to Arizona and playing two years there. Across 142 total college games, he averaged 15.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists. He accumulated 200 made three-pointers.

Love declared for the 2025 NBA Draft, and to the surprise of some, went undrafted. He went on to sign a two-way contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. Despite never being converted, Love saw plenty of action at the NBA level during his rookie season. He appeared in 49 games for them, starting one, and averaged 10.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, shooting 38.8 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from three. Love’s best stretch of basketball occurred from late December through the beginning of February, where he averaged 15.3 points on 43.3 percent shooting. I’d encourage you to check out his game logs, as for a first-year undrafted guy he really lit it up.

Love now caps off the new “guard glut” of Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Labaron Philon and Anfernee Simons. There’s no shortage of scoring amongst this group. Love also has quite a few Sixer-centric connections. A year ago, he faced off against Edgecombe in a heated rookie workout, and also crossed over with Dalen Terry during his time at Arizona.

With the signings of Love and Rupert, the Sixers are now down to one vacant two-way spot. Considering Rupert is best classified as a wing, and Love is a guard, it’s safe to assume that could go towards bolstering their big man rotation, currently occupied by Joel Embiid, Adem Bona, Johni Broome, and Jabari Walker.

LeBron James’ agent, Rich Paul, went on his “Game Over” podcast with Max Kellerman and broke down which teams are in contention for the 41-year-old superstar.

It’s highly unusual for an agent to publicly discuss his client’s active free agency, especially for someone as high profile as James. 

But we got a glimpse into James’ thinking in the episode that aired Friday. 

There were 10 teams on Paul’s whiteboard, including the Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks. 

At times, Paul was surprisingly candid. 

“If the Knicks hadn’t have won [the championship], there wouldn’t even be no board,” Paul said. “He’d be going to the Knicks.” 

Other times, Paul played coy, such as when he was asked why the Warriors, who are presumed to be one of James’ top destinations, were in a corner of the whiteboard as opposed to being featured front and center like the 76ers, Heat, Timberwolves, Nuggets and Cavaliers. 

“You can think whatever you think,” Paul said. “This is my board. You decide what you want to think.” 

Paul also revealed a few tidbits on James’ thinking about a reunion with the Cavaliers, who James spent two stints with from 2003-10 and 2014-18, including carrying them to their only championship in 2016.

Paul referred to assistant general manager Brandon Weems as “basically LeBron’s brother.” He also intimated that Darius Garland (who’s also represented by Klutch Sports) no longer being on the team is a drawback for James.

“No offense to Harden, but no Garland, because he loves Garland like he loves [Tyrese] Maxey,” Paul said. 

Paul made it clear that there has been overwhelming interest in James, adding that aside from “one organization, maybe two” he has heard from every team in the league. He said that next season won’t necessarily be James’ final one in the NBA.

Paul added that James’ wife, Savannah, and 11-year-old daughter, Zhuri, gave him “the green light” to go anywhere.

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The Los Angeles Lakers haven’t let LeBron James’ exit keep them from adding players to their roster, as they’ve re-signed star guard Austin Reaves to a four-year, $185 million deal and agreed to a blockbuster trade with the Utah Jazz that’ll bring 7-foot-2 center Walker Kessler to LA.

But many feel like this isn’t enough to atone for James’ absence, as the Lakers have received a lot of criticism in recent days by those who believe they need to build a better roster around star guard Luka Dončić.

Despite any external criticism Los Angeles has received, Dončić approves the moves the Lakers have made up to this point, as he was quoted saying he was “excited” about the Lakers’ signings in a July 2 article from Dan Woike of The Athletic.

It’s not surprising to hear Dončić share this sentiment. For one, he’s a low-maintenance star who probably wouldn’t voice his displeasure in public, even if he felt like the Lakers hadn’t built enough around him yet.

Plus, bringing Reaves back and adding Kessler are objectively solid moves that put the Lakers in a solid position to start the offseason, which Dončić is right to feel excited about.

Now the question becomes whether these moves are enough to make the Lakers a true championship contender, or whether they’re an acquisition or two away from cementing themselves as Western Conference contenders in their first season after the James era.

If the Lakers do manage to secure one more star, Dončić’s opinion will be even more earned, and LA fans will feel more at ease without James being on their roster as the 2026-27 season approaches.

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The Washington Wizards are FINALLY in the news for reasons other than AJ Dybantsa, Anthony Davis or Trae Young. Maybe Russell Westbrook as well?

On Friday, Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the Wizards will acquire Deandre Ayton from the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Jaden Hardy and two of the Wizards’ second round draft picks in 2031 and 2032.

Ayton, a center, averaged 12.5 points and 8 rebounds per game in 72 appearances for the Lakers. His most notable reign was from 2018-23 when he played for the Phoenix Suns, his first team where they made the NBA Finals but lost to the Milwaukee Bucks. With the exception of his lone season with the Lakers, Ayton has averaged a double double in points and rebounds every season he played.

Hardy, who now would be with LA, averaged 9.2 points per game in the 2025-26 season starting with the Dallas Mavericks and later the Wizards.

With Ayton now in DC, it will be interesting to see how or whether he, Anthony Davis and Alex Sarr will fit together.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Deandre Ayton’s tenure with the Lakers has come to an end.

On Friday, the Lakers traded the 7-foot center to the Wizards on Friday for Jaden Hardy and a pair of Washington’s second round picks (2031 and 2032).

The trade is a continuation of the Lakers’ roster reconstruction around superstar guard Luka Dončić, who recruited Ayton to LA last summer.

Ayton joins LeBron James (next team to be determined), Marcus Smart (Houston Rockets), Luke Kennard (Phoenix Suns) and Jaxson Hayes (Utah Jazz) as players from the 2025-26 squad who’ll be on another team next season.

Rui Hachimura also remains an unrestricted free agent, with multiple teams, including the Minnesota Timberwolves expressing interest in signing the 6-foot-8 forward. 

In pursuit of building a more complementary roster to Dončić as the top priority of the offseason, the Lakers have re-signed Austin Reaves (four years, $185 million), agreed to a sign and trade with the Jazz for Walker Kessler (four years, $130 million) and agreed to deals with Quentin Grimes (four years, $60 million), Sandro Mamukelashvili (four years, $52 million) and Collin Sexton (two years, $19 million). 

Every deal the Lakers have agreed to have a player option at the end of the contract. 

Ayton exercised his $8.1 million player option for 2026–27 earlier in the week as part of the two-year, $16.2 million contract he signed with the Lakers last July to forego unrestricted free agency.

His decision was one of the biggest X-factors of the Lakers’ offseason considering the team’s desire to find a new starting center and his impact on their cap space.

Ayton, the 2018 No. 1 draft pick who’ll turn 28 in July, averaged 12.5 points and 8 rebounds in a career-high 72 regular games. He was instrumental to the Lakers’ first-round playoff victory against the Rockets, averaging 11.8 points (60.4% shooting) and 10.8 rebounds in the six-game series.

But Ayton was also a polarizing player because of his inconsistent motor and his play style not fitting the archetype the Lakers need. Dončić has long craved a rim-running, rim-protecting center who he can dominate with in the pick-and-roll — two things Ayton isn’t.

Despite his talents, which have been evident since he entered the league, it was clear he wasn’t going to develop into the kind of big man the Lakers needed him to be. 

The type of center that Kessler already is, with room to go into an annual All-Defensive team caliber player. 

The Lakers are searching for another backup big man, with Andre Drummond, Kevon Looney and Nick Richards all viable options. 

In Hardy, the Lakers are acquiring a 23-year-old guard who fits into the team’s desires to get younger and more athletic.

The 6-foot-3 Hardy, the No. 37 pick in the 2022 draft out of the now-defunct G League Ignite, averaged 12.6 points in 23 games with the Wizards after being traded to Washington midseason. 

He’s averaged 8.4 points on 38.6% shooting on 3-pointers in his NBA career. 

Hardy was teammates with Doncic in Dallas for 2 ½ seasons before Doncic was traded to Los Angeles, with the Mavericks trading Hardy to Washington in February. It isn’t clear what role Hardy will have if he stays on the roster since the Lakers already have several backcourt players ahead of him on the depth chart. He has two years and $12 million (team option for 2027-28) left on his contract.

The trade netted the draft-pick depleted Lakers two second rounders, which can be included in a trade for along with their own 2033 second-round pick and 2032 first-round pick swap as they look to more roster improvements.

With Hardy’s 2026-27 salary ($6 million) $2.1 less than Ayton’s ($8.1 million), the Lakers will create more financial flexibility for themselves as they continue to search for a backup big and wing defender.

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