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With the NBA finals and the NBA draft behind us, all the attention is now turning to the beginning of the free agency on July 1 – and more specifically, to the free agency of LeBron James. The best basketball player on the planet once again has the right to hit the market unrestricted, and as was the case in 2010 and 2014, the world of basketball will await its next move. So, while we wait, here are the latest news and notes related to LeBron:
Assemble your team I'll be outside
James has until Friday to inform the Cleveland Cavaliers when he chooses to exercise his $ 35.6 million player option for the 2019-19 NBA season, or if he's going to withdraw to become a free agent without restriction. (A reminder: opting for does not necessarily mean staying in play. Chris Paul opted for the final year of his contract with the Los Angeles Clippers last summer, to orchestrate an exchange immediately with the Houston Rockets.) While he weighs his options and considers his choice, he also works the phones, according to Mark Heisler of the Orange County Register:
"Meanwhile," said [one Eastern Conference] GM, "LeBron does what we [do] – call the players on other teams with whom he wants to play. "
There has been no specific report, but there is no mystery about who is involved. At this point, the surprise would be to discover some fave that Bron kept secret.
Kawhi Leonard.
Chris Paul.
Paul George.
The usual suspects, then – players gifted enough to move the needle in their own right, but who will probably sit until LeBron makes his call, in any way or any way other.
Sam Amick, of USA TODAY Sports, reported Saturday that Houston was "fully confident" that Paul – who helped the Rockets post the NBA's best record this season, reached the Western Conference finals for the first time in his career before being cruelly forced to bow after match 5 with a hamstring injury, and who will also be an unrestricted free agent come Sunday morning – will stay in Texas. However, Amick also reports that the Rockets "seem resigned to the fact that James will not come to meet them."
The San Antonio Spurs, for their part, continue to spread the word that they will exhaust every opportunity to keep the Leonard unhappy in the fold rather than return it to a team that is looking to launch LeBron's upcoming superteam . And as George is approaching his own deadline on June 29 to inform the Thunder in Oklahoma City he is resuming his $ 20.7 million player option or if the agency free is free, Marc Stein of the New York Times maintained that – despite public interest in Los Angeles – George's chances of staying at OKC are better than you think.
If LeBron's so-called favorite running companions are not really running anywhere, and if Daryl Morey can not move heaven and earth to bring James to Houston, then maybe the chances of James staying in the same position are up. also. Of course, everything is subject to change in the NBA, and quickly … especially once LeBron starts making calls.
Ramona Shelburne, of ESPN, reported on Monday that, when he chose to refuse his player option and went to the market, James "did not intend to go to the market. hear pitch meetings developed by teams ", which seems fair.
At this point – after 15 years as a pro, eight consecutive trips to the NBA Finals, three championships and two free agencies of high notoriety – James does not need to hear a sales argument of the teams on the reason for his services, and he is not going to be impressed by an elaborate light show, or whatever. He may not yet know exactly what he wants, but no matter what he ends up being, he knows he will have it and how he will do it. To let potential contenders with whom he will deign to take part in a meeting know that they do not need to organize a dog and pony show, that is downright benevolent. (Especially if you are a member of the team that would be responsible for doing this instead of having a burger at a July 4th BBQ, or whatever.)
LeBron changed his Twitter header and his profile picture!
Starting this weekend, LeBron changed his profile picture of any of them like a little fries at one of him playing high school ball …
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