Category: Sports News

The Cleveland Cavaliers formally agreed to a deal to sign forward Mario Hezonja earlier this week. If only it were that simple. Hezonja is currently having trouble being released from Real Madrid as the Spanish club argues that Hezonja missed his window to leave for the NBA.

Hezonja had an NBA out clause in his contract that was to be exercised by July 20. That has become a point of contention since he missed that window and did not secure an NBA deal until July 26.

“The Cavs and other teams have been pursuing Hezonja this offseason in hopes of capitalizing on a July 20 NBA out in his Real Madrid pact,” said Marc Stein. “The Spanish giants have reportedly pushed back on releasing the Croatian forward since he did not have his NBA team lined up until July 26.”

Cleveland has been linked to Hezonja since earlier in the summer, but, understandably, was holding out on making a move until LeBron James had announced his next decision. The Cavs were hoping to land a big fish. Instead, they chose the consolation prize of taking Hezonja on a minimum deal. That’s why this process didn’t advance until James signed with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Does this mean the Cavs will miss out on Hezonja, too? Probably not.

Stein also reported this today:

“Cleveland has yet to formally sign Mario Hezonja but is “working through” the needed steps, one source close to the process tells @TheSteinLine, to make the deal official. Hezonja and the Cavaliers agreed to a one-year minimum deal Sunday after LeBron James chose Philadelphia.”

Real Madrid will argue that Hezonja did not notify them in time of his buyout window. How far they are willing to argue is undetermined. But one potentially simple solution would be paying a fine and sending money back to Real Madrid to settle everything.

If you’re thinking this feels like a lot to deal with for a minimum player, you’re probably right. We’d all like this process to be simplified. Still, there’s a chance it’s all handled swiftly and over before we know it.

Shaquille O'Neal doesn't agree with critics labeling LeBron James a ring chaser after his decision to join the Philadelphia 76ers, and he pointed to his own career in response.

O'Neal, appearing on the July 27 edition of SiriusXM's "The Stephen A. Smith Show," offered his perspective on James picking the Sixers over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors by equating the choice to one he made at the end of his own NBA career. At the end of his career, O'Neal also signed a two-year veteran-minimum contract with the Celtics to join Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in Boston ahead of the 2010-11 season.

"It's funny to me that people that don't have rings and saying, 'He's a ring chaser,' No. He's continuing to chase," O'Neal told Smith. "He's chasing the chance to continue to be great, to continue to add legacy to his book. Listen, he knows, well he doesn't really know yet, but you know and I know when this thing is over, it's over. You can't come back. Once you retire, once your body says I can't go no more, it's over."

Now that they struck out on LeBron James, the Golden State Warriors are bringing back one of their mainstays.

The team and forward Draymond Green agreed Tuesday, July 28 to a one-year, $27.7 million contract, a person with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.

The person spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly disclose terms of the deal.

ESPN was first to report the news of Green returning to the Warriors.

The contract is exactly the same amount Green would’ve earned in his player option, which he declined in late June. The arrangement suggests that Green opted out to offer financial flexibility for the Warriors to pursue other players, like James, in free agency and trades.

Golden State, however, could not land James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, after James announced Friday, July 24 he would be signing with the Philadelphia 76ers.

The New York Knicks are hoping to repeat as NBA champions in the upcoming season, but their job has become a little harder to repeat.

While the Philadelphia 76ers are gearing up to challenge them by trading for Jaylen Brown and signing LeBron James, the Knicks are focused on figuring out their own team after losing Mitchell Robinson in free agency to the Boston Celtics.

“The Knicks are still in a good position to defend their title: Nine of the top 10 members of their playoff rotation are returning, and none of their key players appears headed for age-related decline. Still, a team source took a cautious approach when forecasting for next season, warning about the possibility of a championship hangover and noting that the Knicks’ 3-point shooting could regress next spring after they ranked first in the 2026 postseason,” ESPN contributor Ben Golliver wrote.

Robinson sets the tone for the team’s defense, and not having him on the floor will change how every player operates for the Knicks on both ends of the floor. It remains to be seen how the team will adjust, as Robinson’s replacement Andre Drummond is not a plug-and-play type of situation. Drummond will take Robinson’s minutes, but he likely won’t have the same impact on both ends of the floor.

No team has repeated as champions since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. It’s a difficult feat to accomplish, especially with so many high-octane teams at the top of the heap in both conferences.

The Knicks won’t have it easy to repeat and the second apron is definitely not doing them any favors.

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Well, we’ve been here before.

LeBron James has once again ducked Northeast Ohio by choosing to sign with a team other than the Cleveland Cavaliers. I think I speak for all of us when I say this left me feeling bummed out.

Not as bummed as 2010. But maybe slightly more disappointed than 2018, when it felt all but certain we’d be entering a dark age of Cavalier basketball following The King’s departure.

This time around is a little different than the other two.

In 2010, James left us all hanging. It felt like the hometown hero was turning his back on us. To this day, the first decision remains controversial in Cleveland. I don’t think that relationship would have ever been repaired if James hadn’t returned in 2014 and eventually fulfilled his promise.

2018 was totally different. By then, he’d already brought a title to Cleveland and done all he could to elevate a lackluster roster to another finals appearance. The 2018 playoff run felt like his last dance in Cleveland. They’d expended all of their resources and met the end of the road. I think most of us made peace with James ending his career somewhere else.

But then hope returned.

Last month, it felt like James might actually make another homecoming. Not only would he close his career with a storybook ending, but he’d be joining a team that actually has a chance of winning the title. This would have been more than a farewell tour. James was the exact type of player the Cavs had been missing throughout this era.

We all know what happened next.

James chose to join the Philadelphia 76ers, stating that this would be the last decision of his career. It all ends in Philly — not Cleveland.

So, now that we’ve laid it all out, we want to know how you feel about LeBron’s decision.

Does this change your view of him? Are you left feeling scorned and betrayed? Disappointed? Or do you have zero bad feelings in the wake of another decision? Let us know in our poll and leave a comment with your explanation!

The Golden State Warriors have agreed to a deal with longtime franchise icon Draymond Green, agreeing to a one-year, $27.7 million deal, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. While Green’s sizable salary may seem larger than market rate, the Dubs are seemingly matching the player option he opted out earlier this offseason. Normally players only opt out of a player option when they know a more lucrative opportunity is waiting, but Green’s close relationship with the organization made him comfortable opting out to give the front office more flexibility to pursue LeBron James in free agency. Green likely would have taken less money to accommodate adding James. However, LeBron opted to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers so the two sides agreed to a deal that is equivalent to if he had opted in. While Green was eligible for a no-trade clause, ESPN’s Anthony Slater clarified that there is not a no-trade clause in the deal.

The news is far from a surprise since everyone expected Green to quickly re-up with the Warriors once James chose the Sixers. The main question was whether the two sides would lean toward a multi-year deal that either included non-guaranteed years or was fully guaranteed but carries a lower average annual salaries. Since there aren’t many premium free agents (if any) left on the market, the Warriors had much less incentive to cut Green’s salary for non-financial reasons. He presumably would have only agreed to a pay cut with more sizable guarantees or a subsequent upgrade to the roster.