LeBron James said he strongly considered joining the Philadelphia 76ers and Houston Rockets before deciding to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.

"I definitely thought long and hard about the possibilities of lining up alongside Ben [Simmons] and [Joel] Embiid or lining up aside [James] Harden and Chris [Paul],'' James said.

James never formally met with the Rockets or 76ers, though his representatives did meet with Philadelphia on July 1st.

The path for James to join the Rockets would have been difficult in terms of the salary cap.

James said his decision involved where his family would feel comfortable as well.

LeBron James has made his first public comments since agreeing to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers on July 1st.

“You look at the Lakers,” James said. “Being able to play for a historic franchise with so much history, and now being able to partner with Magic Johnson, someone I kinda like looked up to when I was younger and wanted to make no look passes like Magic, wanted to get on the break and be Showtime like Magic and then for it to all come to fruition at this point...

“I think timing is everything. For me to be in this position now, the excitement that I have to be a Laker, I’m happy to be a part of it because I believe the Lakers is a historical franchise, we all know that, but it’s a championship franchise and that’s what we’re trying to get back to. I’m happy to be a part of the culture and be a part of us getting back to that point.”

Travis Wear has agreed to a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Wear played in 17 games last season with the Lakers.

Michael Beasley has agreed to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers on a one-year, $3.5 million deal.

The Lakers continue to value playmakers in free agency.

Beasley spent last season with the New York Knicks.

The Los Angeles Lakers have requested waivers on Malik Newman.

In five Las Vegas Summer League games for the Lakers, Newman scored 3.2 points per game in 9.8 minutes.

While Kawhi Leonard has been silent with the media, Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star said on the Back To Back Podcast on Wednesday that he has been in conversations with other impending 2019 free agents about possibly playing together.

"One thing I was told last night is that Kawhi Leonard had already been planning out his free agency for next year and he had already been in contact with other star players in the league and saying 'Hey, where might you want to play with me? What are we looking at?'

"It wasn't just L.A. he was talking about," added Arthur. "Brooklyn was maybe somewhere. They're going to have a ton of cap space. That might have been a possibility.

"So Kawhi has already been thinking ahead to pairing up and playing at a highest level."

The 2019 free agent class includes Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant.

Lonzo Ball had successful arthroscopic surgery to his left knee on Tuesday.

Ball is expected to make a full recovery by the start of the 2018-19 training camp.

Josh Hart has been named MVP of the 2018 NBA Summer League.

In this year’s competition, Hart is averaging an NBA Summer League-leading 24.2 points (on 47.1 percent shooting from the field), 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals in six games.

Joining Hart on the All-NBA Summer League First Team are Chicago Bulls forward Wendell Carter Jr., Knicks forward Kevin Knox, Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton and Milwaukee Bucks center Christian Wood.

The All-NBA Summer League Second Team is composed of Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton, Trail Blazers guard Wade Baldwin IV, Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr., Lakers forward Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young.

Kawhi Leonard is seriously considering attending USA Basketball national team's minicamp in Las Vegas next week. Leonard holds some enthusiasm for showcasing his revitalized health in the wake of the quad injury that has been at the center of discord between the Spurs and him, sources said.  

Gregg Popovich will lead the camp in his role as national team coach.

Leonard continues to seek a trade from the San Antonio Spurs.

A bidding war among the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers never materialized. The Los Angeles Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards are among teams who've talked with the Spurs, league sources said.

The Celtics and 76ers appear to have lost traction in their appetite to trade for Leonard as they're well-positioned for the future regardless. The Lakers appear to be playing the longer game in trade talks.

The Spurs have yet to allow prospective trade partners to talk directly with Leonard or his reps.

LeBron James will not participate in USA Basketball's minicamp in Las Vegas next week.

James did not play on the 2016 USA Basketball entry that won gold in Rio.

James was one of the 35 names included in the player pool that the USA Basketball men's national team released in April. 

James hasn't closed the door on competing with the national team in the future.