LeBron James‘ free agency has been an unusual one so far, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic, who reiterates that none of the teams pursuing the star forward have had the chance to meet with him and few have a direct line to him at all.
The only team executive believed to have had contact with James since he became a free agent, Vardon writes, is Cavaliers assistant general manager Brandon Weems, who has been friends with LeBron dating back to childhood. Other execs have only been in touch with agent Rich Paul, who has been relaying information to James. In some cases, that has included Paul passing along voice notes from team presidents, general manager, or owners to his star client, according to Dave McMenamin and Shams Charania of ESPN.
Ten days into free agency, the teams pursuing James most seriously – the Cavaliers, Heat, Warriors, Sixers, Timberwolves, and Nuggets – still have little sense of where they stand.
“We really don’t know, we just know what we read,” one team executive involved in the LeBron sweepstakes told Vardon. “My friends text me and ask what he’s going to do, and I don’t have to lie to them.”
Paul’s “Game Over’ podcast with Max Kellerman has become a hot spot for the latest LeBron chatter since last Friday, when the Klutch Sports CEO brought out a white board to break down James’ various options in free agency. On Wednesday, Paul and Kellerman hosted Sixers executive Bob Myers, who publicly made his pitch for LeBron to choose Philadelphia, as Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice.com details.
“If he was here, I would say, ‘I honestly believe this is your best chance to win,’” Myers told Paul and Kellerman. “… Where he fits in so well (with the Sixers’ starting lineup), it’s, like, ‘Boom.’ It’s right there. And the skill sets complement – it’s very complementary. Because LeBron’s been a high-usage guy, but he doesn’t have to be. He can be, but he doesn’t have to be.
” … To me, what I would say – you hook me up to a polygraph, all these teams you’re thinking about, I think the Sixers would beat those teams. Am I right? That’s just my opinion… All you can say (as) somebody representing a team, or all I would say, is ‘win.’ This is the best chance to win.”
The Sixers were a topic of discussion again in the latest episode of Paul’s podcast, as the agent spoke about whether another one of his clients, Tyrese Maxey, is the main selling point for Philadelphia from LeBron’s perspective. Aaronson has the highlights from that discussion as well.
Here are a few more notes related to LeBron:
- ESPN’s Bobby Marks and Brian Windhorst lay out what sort of contract each of James’ top six suitors could offer him and what their primary selling points would be if they got a chance to make a pitch to him.
- Asked on Thursday about the possibility of James joining the Warriors, Stephen Curry said it would have been a “pipe dream” to consider teaming up with LeBron a few years ago and that it would make for a great story if they played together in Golden State. However, he added that it’s still “premature” to talk about it,” according to Anthony Slater of ESPN, who hears from sources that Curry and James have talked in the past week. “The pitch is: Do you want to play good basketball and be around people that know how to play the game?” Curry said. “Hopefully raise our floor and our competitiveness this year. There’s good golf in the Bay. We’re an organization that’s been there. He knows that. That’s really self-explanatory. It’s a matter of where he sees himself fitting. At the end of the day, that’s up to him.”
- While Lakers guard Austin Reaves made it clear he harbors absolutely no ill will toward James for his decision to leave the Lakers, he admitted he was disappointed when he heard the news that LeBron wouldn’t return. “I texted him and told him I was having a great day on the golf course until he ruined it,” Reaves told Edward Lewis of The California Post. Reaves, who spent the past five seasons playing alongside James, added that he greatly appreciates all that he has learned from the four-time MVP. “I don’t have enough time to explain how much he means to me and my career and what he’s done for me,” he said.
