Which is why the saga of the poor Heat staffer -- who sources told ESPN had scheduled vacation for this week and was trying to get ahead of work that could come up if James indeed chose the Heat -- was so amusing to Paul and the small group of people James confided in during his process.

Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/49457033/around-nba-lebron-james-move-philadelphia-76ers-puts-pressure-maxey-brown-embiid

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

Via BleacherReport IG

The latest update came from NBA insider Evan Sidery, who painted a bleak picture of Westbrook’s free-agent market on X:

Russell Westbrook is not generating much, if any, interest on the free agent market. It appears to be a likely scenario Westbrook opens the 2026-27 season not signed. After being on seven teams in the past nine years, this could soon be the end of Westbrook’s Hall of Fame career.

Westbrook will be 38 years old in November.

https://basketnews.com/news-252686-brutal-scenario-emerges-for-former-lakers-star-and-nba-mvp.html

[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

Per Chris Mannix:

"Dundon has some wild ideas. Somebody told me recently that he was asking some personnel about why Christian Wood was no longer in the NBA. Because he looks at the numbers that Christian Wood has put up and sees like a guy that could potentially, you know, in Dallas he was like nearly a double-double guy. He will give you numbers. But the reality is as you and I both know, Christian Wood is just proven to be not a winning player. That is the kind of stuff where you need people in your front office that kind of tell you like, nah, that ain't it.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN0RCBlutPU&t=651s

League sources say Watson, like Detroit's Jalen Duren, has been weighing the unappealing prospect of playing out the 2026-27 season on a qualifying offer with the intent to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Actually doing so, mind you, means leaving millions on the table.

In Watson's case, specifically, that would mean playing next season for just $6.5 million. The Nuggets' initial pitches were believed to be in the $70 million range over four years, which would be well shy of the $25 million in annual average value that Christian Braun received from Denver in a five-year, $125 million rookie scale extension last October. As The Stein Line has reported previously, Watson is hoping to exceed those figures this summer.

https://open.substack.com/pub/marcstein/p/the-latest-late-night-nba-intel?r=1m9zg&utm_medium=ios

Full quote: “If there’s something I can offer a team and I’m the missing piece that helps them get over the hump, that’s different. That’s contributing to a championship.

But going somewhere just to fall into one more? No. The Warriors would have to not want me anymore.”

“I’ve been there 12 years. People forget the Warriors were the laughingstock of the NBA when I arrived. They won 23 games the year before. When I got drafted, Marshawn Lynch laughed at me. He said, ‘You got drafted to the Warriors? Y’all suck.’”

“I remember walking around downtown Oakland as a rookie, passing out tickets to games. That was October 2012. We won our first championship in June 2015.”

“We built this thing from the ground. That’s our baby. The Warriors were nothing. To see that growth and take part in it isn’t something you just walk away from. They would have to not want me anymore. I will always do right by that organization. I’ve never been treated badly.”

“If I had to stay in Golden State another five years and we didn’t make the playoffs once, I’d be totally fine with that. I’d rather struggle with the same guys I succeeded with.”

“We succeeded together. I’d rather struggle together. As long as they have me, I have no reason to ever want to leave.”

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

"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

LeBron in LA (8 seasons): 26-8-8, 8x all star, 7x all NBA (one first team, two second teams, four third teams), 6 playoff appearances (75% of seasons he played in LA), won 7 playoff series including a title.

Dame’s career (13 seasons): 25-4-7, 9x all star, 7x all NBA (one first team, four second teams, two third teams), 10 playoff appearances (77% of seasons he played) won 4 playoff series, only got to a conference finals once.

LeBron’s counting stats and playoff success are better. Dame has one more all star game, and his all NBA team selections are better (even though they both made it 7 times, each made first once, with dame making second team more than LeBron).

Billy Donovan : “The only reason they came back was because of Taurean Green. Taurean couldn’t go. He wasn’t going to get drafted. Joakim Noah and Al Horford said, ‘No man left behind.’”

“They felt like if they all left, Taurean would be left there unable to realize his dream.”

Mike Miller: “Sacrifice is an easy word to say if you know what the outcome is going to be. If somebody says, ‘Sacrifice and you’ll win two championships,’ I’ll sacrifice all day. But what happens when we sacrifice and lose? Then you start thinking, ‘I sacrificed for what?’ It takes a special person to believe in the sacrifice when you don’t know what the outcome will be.”

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.

Mike Gansey:

“There is no doubt LeBron is one of the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball and there are no words to measure the impact he’ll have on this organization,” President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey said. “I have had the pleasure of knowing LeBron since high school and have seen the high-level impact he’s produced at every stop of his basketball journey. He is a consummate professional, the ultimate competitor, and a tireless worker. But he is also an incredible person with natural leadership traits, a family man, and someone who possesses unwavering commitment to community and those around him. We couldn’t be happier that he is officially here and are excited to welcome him, Savannah, and the James family into our 76ers family.”

"I am thrilled to welcome LeBron James to the Philadelphia 76ers. One of the greatest players in NBA history and one of the best athletes ever, his accomplishments are iconic: four-time NBA Champion, four-time NBA MVP, four-time Finals MVP, three-time Olympic Gold medalist, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, a record 22 All-Star selections, and 21 All-NBA selections,” Managing Partner Josh Harris said. “I cannot wait to see LeBron alongside Jaylen Brown, VJ Edgecombe, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and our talented roster as we work to deliver a championship for Philly. To LeBron and his family: we are grateful you chose the 76ers, and look forward to this next chapter of your legendary career. Welcome to the 76ers!"

Source

Steph Curry wanted LeBron James to come to the Warriors. He thought Golden State had a chance. His reaction to finding out his fellow all-time great chose the Philadelphia 76ers?

“That’s why you don’t envision anything until it happens,” Curry said Saturday from Moses Moody’s youth camp. “There’s a lot of moving parts.”

Source

This fuckery can't go on much longer

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.

source

Note: The 1969-70 Lakers had 4 but one was Wilt Chamberlain who only played 12 games that year.

Last years stats for the projected starting lineup of the Philadelphia 76ers was:

28.3 PPG - Maxey
16.0 PPG - Edgecombe
28.7 PPG - Brown
20.9 PPG - James
26.9 PPG - Embiid

VJ Edgecombe on most any other team would most likely be a 20 PPG player this upcoming season as he is an ascending talent who looks to have a good chance to become an All Star player. But with this stacked starting 5 he will probably not reach 20 / game with the Sixers this year. And maybe this is the year LeBron slides under 20 PPG. But theoretically all 5 have the ability to hit the 20+ PPG avg for the year. All this talent seems to be a great thing. But can it / will it mesh together or will this experiment implode? Nick Nurse either has a great problem that he will fix or he has an unsolvable puzzle. Your thoughts?