NBA Basketball Wiretap

The Cleveland Cavaliers may be able to offer LeBron James a competitive salary, and James Harden's contract decision could be central to making that happen. James informed the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday that he will be leaving the franchise in free agency.

Harden declined his $42.3 million player option Monday and is now a free agent. He is expected to re-sign with Cleveland but is waiting to finalize a deal to preserve the franchise's flexibility to potentially add James for next season.

Cleveland's current payroll wouldn't allow them to offer James anything beyond the league minimum of roughly $4 million.

If Harden accepts a $30 million salary, Cleveland would land near the NBA's projected first apron of $209 million. The Cavaliers would then need to shed approximately $16 million below that threshold to access the non-taxpayer midlevel exception, which projects at a $15 million starting salary.

To create that space, Cleveland is working to trade Max Strus, league sources said. Strus is set to earn $16.6 million next season. If the Cavaliers can move his contract without taking back salary, and Harden signs at $30 million, the team would be positioned to offer James the full midlevel exception.

While his outside business ventures dwarf his playing salary, a contract reflecting a higher on-court value could hold appeal as he weighs his next move, a path that now appears at least possible in Cleveland.

The Golden State Warriors are in a similar situation with Draymond Green declining his $27.7 million player option and a possible trade of Moses Moody to gain access to the same non-taxpayer midlevel exception. 

Precious Achiuwa has agreed to re-sign with the Sacramento Kings on a two-year, $11.5 million deal. Achiuwa is represented by Bernie Lee and will be playing in his age-27 season.

Achiuwa averaged 10.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 23.9 minutes across 73 games with the Kings last season after he was waived by the Miami Heat on the eve of the regular season.

The Kings are entering a rebuild with uncertain futures for Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine.

The Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers are finalizing a trade of Kawhi Leonard for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first round picks, one pick swap and two second rounders.

Leonard led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA championship and then left the franchise to sign with the Clippers.

The Clippers had elected not to offer Leonard an extension this offseason, which led him to enter the trade market. Leonard signaled that the Raptors were the one team where he'd commit to a long-term extension.

Leonard is coming off one of his strongest individual campaigns, averaging 27.9 points across 65 regular-season games. He earned All-NBA second team honors and placed seventh in MVP voting. The Clippers, however, finished 42-40 and were eliminated in the play-in tournament.

Leonard will immediately become eligible to sign an extension worth up to $123.7 million over two seasons with Toronto.

The Raptors were able to retain RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley as part of the trade as their preference was to instead include Ingram. Ingram signed a three-year, $120 million extension in February 2025 shortly after his trade from the New Orleans Pelicans to the Raptors. Ingram has two seasons remaining on the contract.

After letting Paul George leave in free agency in 2024, the Clippers have now reset their roster by trading away James Harden, Ivica Zubac and now Leonard.

Luka Doncic and LeBron James had no personal issues with each other and their relationship wasn't a factor in the decision made by James to leave the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason, sources tell The Athletic.

James was welcoming of Doncic to the Lakers after the infamous February 2025 trade. James also approached the Lakers that Doncic should have his name introduced last in their starting lineup.

James and Doncic shared text messages this summer about golf.

The Lakers, however, had promised Doncic that the 2026 offseason would be one where they would aggressively improve the roster around him by leveraging their cap space that will disappear with Austin Reaves becoming significantly more expensive. 

Doncic has signaled his interest in acquiring an impact center.

The Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat are considered the leading candidates to sign LeBron James after he informed the Los Angeles Lakers that he will be exiting the franchise in free agency. James is currently in Ohio with his family as he makes what will be final major free agency decision after previously signing with the Heat in 2010, back to the Cavaliers in 2014, and the Lakers in 2018. 

"He's going to make a decision on his own time," said Shams Charania.

"No rush [to make decision]," a source close to the process told Ramona Shelburne.

The Warriors can sign James to the $15.1 million nontaxpayer midlevel exception if Draymond Green takes less money and they are also able to trade Moses Moody into another team's cap space.

The Cavaliers' path to acquiring James could mean a sign-and-trade due to where they are with their cap sheet.

The Heat are attempting to trade away Nikola Jovic to create more space after acquiring Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks.

Charania added that there are more than a dozen teams that are expected to pursue James in free agency.

James is expected to prioritize "happiness" over money with his decision-making.

Jock Landale and the Atlanta Hawks have agreed to a one-year, $14 million deal. Landale is represented by Sammy Wloszczowski. 

Landale spent last season with the Memphis Grizzlies and Hawks, averaging 10.6 points and 5.7 rebounds in 22.1 minutes.

Landale missed the playoffs with a high ankle sprain and his loss was felt with the Hawks thin at center behind Onyeka Okongwu. 

LeBron James has informed the Los Angeles Lakers that he will continue his NBA career next season but has ruled out signing with the team and will play elsewhere. James has been strongly linked with joining the Golden State Warriors. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat are also expected to pursue James with several other teams also likely to express interest.

James first joined the Lakers in 2018 and led the franchise to the NBA championship in 2020. The most successful subsequent season the Lakers had with James was in 2023 when they reached the Western Conference Finals.

The Lakers clearly pivoted towards Luka Doncic following their acquisition of him from the Dallas Mavericks in 2025. After the Lakers decided not to offer James a new contract in 2025, a split between the sides appeared to be an inevitability. But James eventually settled in as the third option on the Lakers behind Doncic and Austin Reaves with a new deal considered a strong possibility. James also led the Lakers to a first round series win over the Houston Rockets with Doncic out and Reaves only returning for the final games. 

James finished the regular season with 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists in 33.2 minutes across 60 games. James had a PER of 20.5, which was his lowest mark since his rookie season in 2003-04 when he had an 18.3 mark.

The Lakers and James never met this offseason and an offer was never extended.

"It was time to move on,” a source close to James told ESPN's Dave McMenamin. 

The Warriors can offer James their non-taxpayer midlevel exception of $15.1 million if Draymond Green takes a pay cut from his $27.7 million player option he declined and they also trade Moses Moody into another team's cap space.

Robert Williams III and the Portland Trail Blazers have agreed to a three-year, $44 million contract that runs through the 2028-29 season. Williams' contract will be worth slightly less on an annual average basis than the midlevel exception of $15.1 million

Williams was expected to receive free agent interest from the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics amongst others.

Williams has long been one of the NBA's better defensive centers, but he's struggled to stay consistently healthy.

In 59 games last season with the Blazers, Williams averaged 6.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 17.1 minutes with a PER of 22.1.

Simone Fontecchio and the Miami Heat have agreed to a one-year deal.

Fontecchio appeared in 70 games last season, averaging 8.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 16.8 minutes while shooting 37.5 percent on three-pointers.

Fontecchio was acquired by the Heat during the 2025 offseason as part of the Duncan Robinson trade.

Fontecchio will be playing under his age-29 season.

LeBron James has not yet informed the Los Angeles Lakers that he intends to continue his playing career during the 2026-27 season. The two sides have yet to meet as free agency is set to begin and James is expected to receive an offer from the Golden State Warriors.

James could be genuinely preparing to join Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Steve Kerr with the Warriors, or it could merely be about leverage to improve the Lakers' offer. The Warriors can only offer their $15.1 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception, while the Lakers' offer is more flexible but hurts their chances of making other offseason moves to improve their roster around Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

"The Lakers' strategy during this whole thing is to sit back and give LeBron space," said ESPN's Brian Windhorst on Get Up. "He has still not articulated he's definitely going to play. I have not yet been told, nor have the Lakers that he's definitely playing. He's probably going to play, but he's not definitely playing.

"Because to this point he has not met with them, and maybe that meeting will happen today, I don't have LeBron's itinerary in front of me. I can't rule any of that out.

"I do think LeBron has been focused on other things besides returning to the Lakers. 

"I know this is overly cautious, but we could see Anthony Davis signing a contract extension with Washington, Draymond Green signing back with the Warriors, and LeBron signing back with the Lakers. All of that could happen. And all this could be a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing except for leverage generation. 

"I do believe that the Warriors want LeBron James. And I do believe that they worked with Draymond Green in this contract opt-out yesterday to make LeBron James an offer. What I don't know is whether they will be able to execute that and get that done. They're going to try to get that done today.

"Frankly, the Lakers would like to be able to have clarity from LeBron today whether he's going to stay or go so they can handle their business."