I didn't hear anything from reputable sources (Athletic, ESPN, Stein, Fedor, etc) about this. Is this a fan-initiated rumor or is there actually smoke?
Tired of his wink wink hint hint that he thinks the Fever are the second coming and occasionally throwing in token praise for Olivia Miles to show that yes, he definitely does watch teams other than the Fever in the W.
After agreeing Friday to trade Schröder to Charlotte, Cleveland remains in active search of a trade to send out Max Strus as Strus enters the final year of his current contract at $16.7 million, league sources say.
Completing the deal that ships out Schröder will shed nearly $7 million in salary for next season, but the Cavaliers are said to covet even more financial flexibility if they can manufacture it either for their pursuit of Nuggets restricted free Peyton Watson or Hawks unrestricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga as well as the eventual re-signing of James Harden.
One source familiar with the process said Harden's new multiyear deal with the Cavaliers should be completed "soon-ish."
As The Stein Line first reported in the below article on July 27, Denver's offers to Watson have been in the $70 million range over four seasons. Watson is believed to be seeking an annual average salary north of what teammate Christian Braun landed from the Nuggets last October in a five-year, $125 million rookie scale extension.
Source: https://marcstein.substack.com/p/more-late-night-nba-intel (paywalled)
* Reposting because the typo in the title bothered me way too much, my apologies to the mods.
I see some people citing something along the lines of "we were on a 60-game win pace," but this is driven largely by the fact that we had a very easy post-trade deadline strength of schedule. If I recall correctly, only the Hawks had an easier schedule in the East.
Yes, we were 31-21 before February 5th and 21-9 after. However, we were
I don't think you need any sort of statistical training the understand that we did not perform significantly better against tough competition.
We faced a much larger number of weak teams after February 5th. Before the deadline, almost 70% of our games were against above .500 opponents (36 out of 52 games in total). Afterwards, only 50% were (15 out of 30). If you're interested, this is somewhat related to the Simpson's paradox.
(And look, I'd also argue that the "weak" teams we faced in the second half of the season are even weaker than their records would suggest because that's when many teams like Brooklyn, Chicago, Indiana, Memphis, etc. really began pulling starters and tanking in earnest.)
In either case, we were basically .500 against above-.500 opponents. Which kind of showed in the playoffs, since we ended 8-10. We had absolutely horrendous injury luck before ASB this year. But even if you discount that, we did not fix whatever plagued us in the regular season after the trade.
The East is projected to be better next year because of player movements into the East and within the East. Additionally, the league overall is projected to be more competitive next year because the new lottery reduced the tanking incentives. I place a much higher importance on how we looked against good teams versus tanking teams, since the latter might not really exist next year.
I'm worried that so many people (and maybe also the front office, quite frankly) are content to look at the overall records before and after February. If we are all-in on contending, I just don't think this team is at that level right now. Don't get me wrong -- we need a starting caliber wing to be respectable. But I just don't know if getting Kuminga or even Watson and relying on internal development is enough at the end of the day.
- 16 back-to-backs: most in league, tied with five other teams
- 23 three-games-in-four-nights: 6th hardest in league, tied with one other team
- Sixth lowest rest advantage (calculated by "net rest"), tied with six other teams
Source: https://www.nba.com/schedule?bc=NATL&cal=all&pd=false®ion=1&season=Regular%20Season
NBA on MLK Day schedule:
Pistons at Cavs - 12 pm ET
76ers at Hawks - 2:30 pm ET
Wolves at Knicks - 5 pm ET
Rockets at Grizzlies - 7:30 pm
NBA President's Day schedule (Monday, Feb. 15, 2027):
Timberwolves at Hornets - 12 pm ET
76ers at Mavs - 2:30 pm ET
Spurs at Heat - 5 pm ET
Pacers at Warriors - 7:30 pm ET
- 11/6 vs PHI
- 11/13 @ MIA
- 11/20 vs IND
- 11/25 @ NYK
It also looks like the Philly game will be the only one on national television. It should be LeBron's first game back here this season. I'm personally a little offended that it it only on Prime.
Source: https://marcstein.substack.com/p/lots-more-late-night-nba-intel?r=nuq3a&utm\_medium=ios
One source close to the process told The Stein Line that a recent report suggesting that Russell Westbrook was in talks to sign abroad with Hapoel Tel Aviv was "laughably false."
Westbrook to this point has not considered leaving the NBA after 18 seasons, winning MVP honors in 2017 and his strong production last season in Sacramento at age 37: 15.2 points and 6.7 assists per game as well as 58 starts.
Without necessarily naming names (though feel free to of course), what was it like working with the players? How involved were they? Was it mostly for photo ops by your judgment or did they seem genuinely interested in the cause?
I'm also wondering how funding works if a player gets traded. I'm thinking of the Jaylen Brown trade, mainly. Is there a lot of uncertainty when that happens? Do players move their endeavors to their new city?
Didn't love the logo but thought everything else about the WNBA team branding was sick.
We signed Hezonja. Huzzah!
Source: https://www.nba.com/players/transactions
Some more text to meet the minimum character requirement.
Maybe as a Schroeder/Strus replacement?
This is from yesterday's episode of the Zach Lowe show. Transcript is auto-generated from Apple Podcast. It's a more nuanced reporting/take than what we saw from the previous ESPN article on this subject (https://www.espn.com/nba/story/\_/id/49443519/lebron-76ers-cavaliers-heat-everything-windhorst-knows-stunning-decision).
There is also a clip floating around on Twitter of Shams saying the Cavs FO actually met with LeBron early July in Akron. https://x.com/fullcourtpass/status/2082423199447351513?s=46
No details on what went on in the meeting, but it seems that it wasn't for the lack of trying.
Also, if it helps, the ESPN article that came out today said that no front office was fully expecting LeBron to go to their team. (https://www.espn.com/nba/story/\_/id/49470047/inside-lebron-james-decision-join-philadelphia-76ers)
Anyway, I'm sure there will be more news to come, but I'm ready to move on after this.
The latest Five Good Minutes with Windy, at 16+ minutes including ads.
I know people will be focused on the LeBron section, but I find his reasoning about just how difficult it would be for the Cavs to sign-and-trade Kuminga more interesting.
As a lot of people mentioned, it would involve salary dumping Strus or Schroeder. The Hawks can't really take back salary, so it would involve a third team and maybe picks on our side. He's not optimistic about our chances there.
Source: Brian Windhorst, "LeBron chooses 76ers: Why not Cavs or Heat? Here's what Windy knows," https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/49443519/lebron-76ers-cavaliers-heat-everything-windhorst-knows-stunning-decision
There is a bit more detail in the original article about the other teams in the running for LeBron.
>Couldn't he have won immediately with Cleveland?
>A case could be made for that outcome. A starting five of James, Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen for the Cleveland Cavaliers would have been a powerhouse that rivals what the 76ers can be with James, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown and Joel Embiid.
>Let's again turn to James' statement: "I'm not going for money. I'm not going for family. What am I really playing for at this point? I still want to sacrifice. I still want to work. I still want to grind. I still want to compete, to win and to have a chance at the feeling of winning."
>Money not being a factor was crucial for the Cavs, who, similar to Philly, are capped out. But James' explanation that there was a de-emphasis on family -- again, there were lots of guesses at what "basketball happiness" meant, and some included playing at home -- clearly did not benefit the Cavs.
>If the Cavs traded for Brown, would it have made a difference?
>The 76ers' acquisition of Brown absolutely made a difference for them. Before that deal, it was unreasonable to believe they'd have made James' top five destinations, much less been his choice. If the Cavs had made that deal, which likely would've taken a package that included Mobley to get the Boston Celtics interested, it would've changed their hand.
>It is not as simple as saying Brown being on the roster was the entire difference, however.
>Maxey was an unquestionable key factor in the 76ers' landing James. Maxey had a strong relationship with James, as both are represented by Klutch Sports. With James joining a new team that has lots of egos and needs, having a connection with the point guard was an edge for Philly.
>Some will say Harden's role as Cleveland's point guard affected James' decision, but there is more nuance than that. It's not that the Cavs having Harden was a factor, sources said, but rather who the Cavs did not have. To get Harden from the LA Clippers in February, the Cavs traded Darius Garland, a Klutch-repped point guard with whom James has had a yearslong relationship.
>In the end, there were three strikes against Cleveland: Family not being an issue in LeBron's choice, the front office not making a deal for Brown and the Cavs' roster not featuring Garland. To say it was one of these factors more than the other might be missing the big picture.
The usual outlets aren't saying anything about this. The only news I see is from a site I'm completely unfamiliar with. https://www.reddit.com/r/clevelandcavs/s/ZN14a1wtcR
Meanwhile I'm still seeing news about how the Warriors are pursuing Hezonja. https://www.si.com/nba/warriors/onsi/report-warriors-targeting-wing-with-overseas-mvp-award-01kyb4hy5nt1
Shams from seven hours ago: https://x.com/SMHighlights1/status/2080742345515909171/video/1?s=46
Source: Vince Goodwill, "LeBron James' storybook ending? Why it's in Miami, not Cleveland"
If this reporting is accurate, I think this is the first instance of a reputable source telling us that LeBron has expressed a preference in what the Cavs can change. Most of the speculation before this focused on AD.
His reasons for not returning.
I have my own theories, but they are just theories. I've seen every fanbase make their own pitch on the basketball fit, and to be honest it's all a wash to me. But what would your rationale be?