2026-27 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

It sure sounds like LeBron James is headed back to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

While betting markets initially listed the Golden State Warriors, and later the Philadelphia 76ers, as the favorites to land James, the reporters with the strongest NBA sources now list Cleveland as the clear front-runner.

Over the weekend, Substack reporter Marc Stein wrote that there is a "growing belief" among teams interested in James that the Cavaliers have the "scenario to beat" for his services. While Stein no longer works for a major sports network, he remains one of the few true authorities on the sport. Notably, he was the first insider to report that Kevin Durant was leaning toward the Brooklyn Nets in 2019, while much of the media continued reporting that the Knicks were the most likely destination.

On Monday, ESPN's Brian Windhorst echoed a similar sentiment.

Everybody I talk to about LeBron is like, 'We're afraid it's Cleveland.' Nobody seems like they have optimism, to be honest," Windhorst told Barstool's Pardon My Take.

Michael Wilbon told OutKick last year that Windhorst is among the most credible reporters in sports today. It's difficult to argue otherwise. Few, if any, NBA insiders have a better track record of reporting accurate news before, not two seconds after, it happens than Windhorst.

As of Monday afternoon, Kalshi gave Cleveland a 55% chance of signing James. The Miami Heat had the second-best odds, but at just 17%.

https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/lebron-james-heading-back-cleveland-end-career-cavaliers

 

He’s 42. Who gives a flying f***?

Clearly it has nothing to do with basketball for either of the involved parties.

 

He is going to an Eastern Conference team. My bet. Wemby, Shae, Luka, Joker, Ant - all in the West. The last thing he wants is to face Luka in the playoffs and lose.

Cleveland or Heat. He went to the finals almost every year when he was in the East and stacked his teams.

Playing with Giannis, Bam and likely Derozan - better than playing with an old Steph and Dray and facing the Lakers, Spurs, OKC, Denver, and Minny 3-4x each.

Philly is intriguing - but doubt he wants to live there part time.

If your gonna face Shae or Wemby - best to do it with Giannis and Bam. Sure - Brown and Embiid - but no guaranty about the big man’s health.

And of all the teams - Spo is the best coach. Every year he was there he went to the finals. And they went to the finals after he left too. No other team came close.

 

stupid rob didn't tank for six straight years to be in position to draft peterson!! rob probably would have botched most of the lotto picks in that stretch, too! oh wait...

i like connelly a lot, but he has a couple doozies and hasn't won big despite having more injury luck than some of his competitors. stevens just made one of the worst trades we've seen in years, both from a process and outcome standpoint. just awful, start to finish. can't believe he got executive of the year last year for stripping his title team for (limited) parts under the cover of tatum's injury. presti fumbled his first title shot in spectacular fashion (traded pre-mvp harden for kevin martin!) and has been allowed to tank off and on, with a sterling draft record that somehow is characterized by the same damn hit rate as everyone else (they dumped recent lotto pick dieng last season; have you seen topic play?!). bob myers is living his whole life on a cluster of lucky/good choices made in a two-year period, and his smartest move was walking away before everyone realized he didn't have any more moves in him. myers was part of the two-timeline braintrust, lol! the hubris!

but we've been over this a zillion times. i just don't believe any of these guys are "better" than the others. there are a few that are worse, though, and if you get to take advantage of them during their brief stints, you're a winner!

presti doesn't get to tank here. he doesn't survive the loss of the first okc group (you let kevin durant just walk in free agency and got nothing in return?!). he doesn't get to eat bloated veteran contracts and call it a success when they finish 8th. he gets fired for finishing 8th.

so no, i don't love rob. what i know is the lakers job isn't the same as other jobs. whoever is the gm here is going to be under fire no matter what. the fans and media want them to fail and construct failure narratives regardless of what happens. the lakers fans demand titles every year in a league where this no longer happens. lakers fans demand zero mistakes while pining for managers that make mistakes.

does rob overcorrect? yes, sometimes comically. does he have some bizarre player option philosophy that is inscrutable to me? yes. was his strategy of getting in bed with an agency a mixed bag? yes (though, again, the knicks copied it immediately and won a ring, too).

but i'm not a huge believer in the idea that if we just had someone else in this job, things would be so different. hell, not many gms would have had the balls to let lebron walk. it's a big part of why rich paul's been salty for a full year about it.

they've been lying the whole time about all of it, imo. they're not at all interested in matching on watson; they just know he's got nobody who can make an offer, and they've largely run out of teams to dump guys to. nobody would take braun, and people were probably even playing hardball on cam johnson. they may have gotten ownership's blessing on exceeding the second apron (like apparently okc got), but even that wasn't going to save them entirely. they should be able to squeeze a first out of the clips on the watson trade, but i think they're kind of in the death throes, regardless.

they should have dumped jamal murray this summer, imo, for the same reasons people are now justifying the jaylen brown trade: two supermaxes can't work. especially if one of them isn't a jokic/luka/giannis/sga level player.

 

It's the offseason and it's basketball news

It doesn't matter to me what he does

But a few might be interested

 

Not a single team in the league would take Rob over Presti or Stevens. I think you can safely put Connelly in that bunch too.

That said I think this summer is actually going better than some think and there’s still time to address the remaining roster issues.

 

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There is reportedly a mutual interest between the Lakers and Jonathan Kuminga, per @jovanbuha

 

Give them Lakers and the win now or bust culture. How successful you think they would have been and for every bad move how much attention you think they get. Draft and groom vs the pressure of having Lebron, Luka wanting to win now not part of a rebuilding project?

 

Abeer are you related to Rob or something? I generally have liked his moves, but it’s not ridiculous to say that others aren’t better than him. If some are worse there can certainly be better.

Tim Connelly built Denver. Jokic, Jamal, MPJ, Harris and Monte Morris were all picks he made. He also traded for Gordon and signed other useful pieces. We can say he didn’t win a ring but the year he got poached by the Wolves is the year they won. There was no major moves that propelled them, it’s the core he built. He then built the wolves, signed Rudy, traded KAT, got Ayo etc. they’re on the brink of getting a ring over the next 5 years.

Bob Myers won 4 rings at GSW and made that team into a juggernaut. The last two years he has rebuilt Philly. I thought they were in the absolute dumps with PG and Embiid. Now they’re trotting out Maxey, VJ, Brown 1-3 and could be the best in the East this year.

Presti is impressive not because of his luck from tanking, but his general strategy, who else has done what he has? He basically took on good players performing badly, rehabbed their value and shipped them off for draft picks. It’s like that guy who took a nickel and traded it all the way to a million dollars. He took the PG trade and turned it into 25 odd picks.

Stevens is getting maligned, but he may end up being correct. 2x super maxes is an anchor on your team that you just can’t come back from. He did what was necessary even though it was extremely tough. He can now rebuild with Tatum and white and add key pieces to the team. Heck they may still trot out Murphy this year and be a much better team.

Rob is fine. But he isn’t the best - far from it. There’s a handful that are better.

 

As always, heavy is the crown. Sorry but I’m not going to give Rob a pass because the job is hard. Plus building a champion in a city like OKC isn’t exactly easy.

 

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I haven't really judged the team because I don't think we're done quite yet.

However, there are somethings that have to happen for us to be successful; Luka has to be a top 3 player, Kessler has to be a top 5-10 center, & Austin has to be a top 25-30 player for this team contend. They all have to be healthy. JJ has to be a top 10 coach.

These guys are now getting paid like it. When I say healthy, something like 65-72 games. I think that's fair. If that happens, I think we can contend. It's a lot to ask, but it is what it is.

 

people are misconstruing my argument, as has always been the case: my point is we don't know. we don't know how presti would have fared here. my point is that the lakers job is different. easier in that stars have wanted to play here, harder in that a) other gms literally collude against you (i actually think this is happening with kuminga, btw), and b) the expectations are wildly different, which requires different strategy.

guessing presti and connelly won't take this job because they don't want to find out. daryl morey hid behind all kinds of s*** for years. bailed on houston when he had boxed himself into a corner, and finally got fired in philly. supposedly the best most genius gm EVAR. no. he was ok like the rest of them.

again, i like connelly better than presti, tbh. if i had a ranking, he'd probably be #1. he also traded two future unprotected firsts for rob dillingham last year. can you imagine if rob had done that?!

you mean mike gansey?

well, he traded sabonis and oladipo for george, first. so it's like the guy who traded a bmw and a mazda for a porsche, then traded that porsche for 58 1973 ford pintos, one of which used to belong to gene wilder and was auctioned off for a million dollars.

he may end up right. why is he getting grace? because he won one ring? are you saying...that the offseason isn't over yet? i feel like you're saying that...

once again, someone needs to find where i said he was the best. what i've said, over and over, is that his job isn't the same job as these other guys. there is no job like it in the league. we saw the last group fail spectacularly to adjust to the changing nature of the nba (after succeeding in the old system).

we'll likely replace rob in the coming years; i just don't think that will be the difference in anything. the change in ownership should be a much bigger difference maker, imo.

we need him to push for us hard. as i mentioned above, i don't think it's a coincidence that cleveland emerged as a (pretty nonsensical) suitor here. nobody wants to see him in la because they're afraid, imo. and they should be.

 

Agreed. We need our big three to play well. I think they can though. I expect a highly motivated MVP level Luka. It's fully his team now and I expect him to come out with a chip on his shoulder again.

I think JJ has actually proven himself to be a good coach and will ultimately have a bit more balanced roster to work with.

Kessler's health is a concern, but I think at least some of his games missed was Utah blatantly tanking.

I also expect AR to come out with something to prove and show everyone he deserved his contract.

It's a lot, but I'm optimistic for now.

 

I'm really hoping one of Carr or Manon get emerge to get some time with the parent squad. I think Theiro will likely need 1 more year. IMO.

but I'd keep scouring for cheap high potential wings. Zhaire Smith just got renounced - I'd take a flyer on him for example.

 

i think you mean ziaire williams (smith plays for the summer league team), and i agree. he's probably my #1 vet min target (after we get a backup center, of course).

 

Yes, been watching too much SL, lol

 

Seems like Hardy might be here to stay for now

 

I will legit be sad if we don't lock up Manon. I think he and Carr have looked the best in summer league and also hope that get their moments to prove themselves with the team.

Thiero is still raw. I think he needs to be in the lab with someone who can help him play under control and less reckless out there.

I expect things to really fall in line once Kuminga makes his decision.

Zaire would be a great get.

 

i'm just trying to figure out what the kuminga backup plan is. if rob can't get that one done, the pickings look very slim.