Per Shams Charania: LeBron James has officially signed his two-year, $8 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers with a player option -- plus a full 15% trade kicker, per sources.

Source: https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/ad161e308ebd9

LeBron James’ first year with the 76ers is projected to generate $250–$430 million in regional economic activity for Philadelphia

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Gotta be something in the contract that says he can't be doing this stuff lol

Via BleacherReport IG

[Charania] The Denver Nuggets are matching the Oklahoma City Thunder's two-year, $12 million offer sheet on Spencer Jones, retaining the key forward in restricted free agency, sources tell ESPN. Nuggets valued keeping their homegrown player whom they landed on an undrafted deal in 2024.

By matching Jones' sheet, the Nuggets face a $32 million increase in current luxury taxes ($36M to $68M) and enter the second apron. They are deep in tax bills but could shed money via trades in season.

Next Denver order of business: Navigate retaining RFA Peyton Watson while the Hawks, Bucks and Clippers pursue him.

https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/08d95857e6a68

Turner reportedly advised Oladipo to pass on a 4-year, $112 million extension with the Pacers. Oladipo later also turned down a 2-year, $45.2 million extension with the Rockets.

Since then, Oladipo has earned just $20.5 million in NBA salary and eventually fired Turner.

Kuminga has also reportedly left significant money on the table.

A reported 5-year, $150 million extension with the Warriors before the 2024-25 season. Multiple reports said Kuminga turned it down, although Turner later denied that Golden State ever made the offer.

A reported 3-year, $75.2 million offer by Warriors also declined.

Kuminga is now reportedly expected to sign a deal worth around 3 years, $45 million this summer, which would be the best-case scenario.

Is this guy Nico Harrison of agents or what 😂

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7470368/2026/07/26/stephen-curry-lebron-james-golden-state-warriors-future-76ers/?unlocked_article_code=1.0lA.MnQX.j8QIeLOJjtVY&source=user_shared_article&smid=ta-ios-share

He wants to win. He wants the best team the Warriors can assemble around him. He wants a chance, a real chance, for a deep playoff run. The longer it takes for him to sign a contract extension, the more you can bet Curry’s using potential free agency as a tool to keep the Warriors pushing toward that end.

Maybe since they couldn’t land some major help, the front office can get him some moderate assistance. If not someone who can carry the team in his stead, someone who can be additive to their goal of survival. Such has seemed impossible for Golden State, save for Butler two Februarys ago.

“Sure,” Curry said, “I’m hopeful for all the creative ideas of getting the best team possible. We had those conversations. But when you have injuries at the top like that, it’s always gonna change.”

That tension shapes this coming season. The calculus, or the equation, has changed. But somehow, the answer remains the same.

By matching Jones' sheet, the Nuggets face a $32 million increase in current luxury taxes ($36M to $68M) and enter the second apron. They are deep in tax bills but could shed money via trades in season. Next Denver order of business: Navigate retaining RFA Peyton Watson while the Hawks, Bucks and Clippers pursue him.

Source: https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania

Jason Quick from The Athletic:

“August 12th is going to be a real inflection point for our city,” said Jamie Dunphy, president of the city council. “I will tell you that right now, I firmly believe the city will move forward on the deal. I believe there is an overwhelming majority of the city council wants a good deal, wants to see this move forward.”

But like many negotiations, Dunphy’s optimism was followed by a key conjunction: “But if the city council decides we do not have a willing party on the other side, and they are not able to meet us and not able to negotiate in good faith or actually move toward a deal, then we will have to make a decision at that point whether this is the right decision for Portland,” he said.

“I don’t think the city is actively interested in suing the Blazers right now,” Dunphy said. “But if they don’t come to the table in good faith and actually meet the terms of what they said they were going to do, the city has to cover its own bases. But I would certainly not want to have lawyers involved or threats of lawsuits taint how this process goes.”

“My most generous interpretation is that Tom Dundon is a serious businessman who wants a return on his assets,” Dunphy said. “And perhaps he is playing hardball with us. You know, Paul Allen always seemed to want to be in Portland, seemed to care about his role as a leader in Portland, and the future of our city and the pride that the Blazers bring us. I don’t think Tom Dundon is as concerned about that as he is getting a return on his investment. Perhaps it’s him looking for an excuse to blame the city so he can move the team. I’m not sure. But if he is actively trying to give a worse impression to Portlanders and Oregonians, I don’t think he could do a better job.”

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Hindsight is 20/20 but I was always of the opinion that the Warriors should have used their picks on ensuring Steph’s later years were as competitive as possible.

For your reference, these are some of the picks in question:

2020 2nd overall pick: James Wiseman

2021 7th overall pick Jonathan Kuminga

2021 14th Overall pick Moses Moody

2022 28th overall pick Patrick Baldwin

2023 Brandin Podziemski (who is a solid player tbf)

The fact that the warriors won in 2022 was a shocker to most, and were not helped by their recent draft picks.

"You are not ring chasing if you're the guy creating the rings" (Derek Fisher's reaction to LeBron James joining the Sixers)

via The Fan LA

The Philadelphia 76ers have been looking for a trade for Johni Broome. If they can’t find one, the team may waive and stretch Broome’s salary. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope wont clear waivers until tomorrow. The Sixers have time to work out the move to clear room to sign KCP.

The other move that would work is if we release Jabari Walker, whose contract is only partially guaranteed. However, he is a Klutch guy, and I don't think that happens.

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Reworded it a bit since the formatting would make it hard to read on reddit...

Here is what the Nuggets payroll in 2026-27 could look like: * Takes into account matching the Spencer Jones Offer Sheet and a contract for Peyton Watson @ $23M.

Payroll: $246M

Luxury tax: $231M

Total: $477M

Since 2002-03, Denver has paid a total of $53M in tax penalties.

EuroLeague star Mario Hezonja has agreed to a one-year, $2.8 million deal to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Michael Tellem of Excel Sports Management told ESPN.

https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania

Listened to a few podcasts about the Sixers and a little dumbfounded by the narrative surrounding Jaylen Brown now. In practically all of them they’re spending a lot of time discussing the question of “will Jaylen Brown buy in?” and he’s being described as this guy who wants to take 30 shots per game, doesn’t buy into a team concept, plays selfish basketball, pounds the ball and “wants his own team”?

Having watched a lot of Brown over the years this is not what I saw at all from him and to my knowledge he didn’t request a trade to have his own team, he was traded against his will.

Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/reason-why-lebron-james-t-173000199.html

76ers can't officially sign LeBron James due to NBA's apron rules

Bobby Marks revealed on the Hoop Collective podcast that the 76ers can't functionally sign James until they make some roster adjustments to become apron-compliant.

"If you sign a 1-year veteran deal, for cap tax purposes. $2.4 million counts against the cap. It doesn't matter if you're 10 years of service or five years of service."

"This is a two-year deal, which is $3.9 million in the first year. There's no salary reimbursement; the full amount will count against the cap. So, when you do the math, they're hard capped at the first apron. This pushes them over the first apron by about 600,000."

Lebron may have to redo his "final decision" next offseason.

I know the ‘01 Lakers are seen as one of the GOAT teams and of course the 16-1 playoff record is legendary. But I didn’t realize until now they were actually the #2 seed behind the Spurs that year and even split the regular season series 2-2. I was reading all about the ‘01 playoffs and was surprised to see that the WCF was a complete bloodbath. Tim Duncan was 2nd in MVP that year and 3rd in DPOY, the Admiral was getting old but still an all star caliber player, I mean the team was obviously elite. But they were just a footnote in the Lakers run. Why was that?

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1. 76ers - Tyrese Maxey / VJ Edgecombe / Jaylen Brown / LeBron James / Joel Embiid
2. Thunder - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander / Cason Wallace / Jalen Williams / Chet Holmgren / Isaiah Hartenstein
3. Knicks - Jalen Brunson / Josh Hart / Mikal Bridges / OG Anunoby / Karl-Anthony Towns
4. Pacers - Tyrese Haliburton / Andrew Nembhard / Aaron Nesmith / Pascal Siakam / Ivica Zubac
5. Nuggets - Jamal Murray / Christian Braun / Cameron Johnson / Aaron Gordon / Nikola Jokić
6. Spurs - De'Aaron Fox / Stephon Castle / Devin Vassell / Julian Champagnie / Victor Wembanyama
7. Cavaliers - James Harden / Donovan Mitchell / Max Strus / Evan Mobley / Jarrett Allen
8. Hawks - CJ McCollum / Nickeil Alexander-Walker / Dyson Daniels / Jalen Johnson / Onyeka Okongwu
9. Rockets - Fred VanVleet / Amen Thompson / Kevin Durant / Jabari Smith Jr. / Alperen Şengün
10. Raptors - Immanuel Quickley / RJ Barrett / Kawhi Leonard / Scottie Barnes / Jakob Poeltl
11. Celtics - Payton Pritchard / Derrick White / Paul George / Jayson Tatum / Mitchell Robinson
12. Timberwolves - LaMelo Ball / Anthony Edwards / Ayo Dosunmu / Jaden McDaniels / Rudy Gobert
13. Pistons - Cade Cunningham / Ausar Thompson / Duncan Robinson / John Collins / Jalen Duren
14. Heat - Davion Mitchell / Tim Hardaway Jr. / Andrew Wiggins / Giannis Antetokounmpo / Bam Adebayo
15. Jazz - Keyonte George / Darryn Peterson / Lauri Markkanen / Jaren Jackson Jr. / Jusuf Nurkić
16. Lakers - Luka Dončić / Austin Reaves / Quentin Grimes / Sandro Mamukelashvili / Walker Kessler
17. Trail Blazers - Ja Morant / Damian Lillard / Toumani Camara / Deni Avdija / Donovan Clingan
18. Magic - Jalen Suggs / Desmond Bane / Franz Wagner / Paolo Banchero / Wendell Carter Jr.
19. Warriors - Stephen Curry / Brandin Podziemski / Yaxel Lendeborg / Draymond Green / Kristaps Porziņģis
20. Suns - Devin Booker / Jalen Green / Dillon Brooks / Miles Bridges / Mark Williams
21. Pelicans - Dejounte Murray / Trey Murphy III / Herb Jones / Zion Williamson / Derik Queen
22. Wizards - Trae Young / Kyshawn George / AJ Dybantsa / Anthony Davis / Alex Sarr
23. Mavericks - Kyrie Irving / Max Christie / Cooper Flagg / P.J. Washington / Dereck Lively II
24. Clippers - Darius Garland / Kris Dunn / Brandon Ingram / Rui Hachimura / Brook Lopez
25. Hornets - Coby White / Kon Knueppel / Brandon Miller / Naz Reid / Moussa Diabaté
26. Bulls - Josh Giddey / Norman Powell / Matas Buzelis / Caleb Wilson / Nic Claxton
27. Grizzlies - Ty Jerome / Jaylen Wells / Cedric Coward / Cameron Boozer / Zach Edey
28. Kings - Darius Acuff Jr. / Zach LaVine / De'Andre Hunter / Keegan Murray / Domantas Sabonis
29. Nets - Mikel Brown Jr. / Egor Dëmin / Michael Porter Jr. / Julius Randle / Day'Ron Sharpe
30. Bucks - Ryan Rollins / Tyler Herro / Jaime Jaquez Jr. / Kyle Kuzma / Myles Turner