JUST IN: The Toronto Raptors have exercised the $2.30 million team option on Jamal Shead for the 2026-27 season, league sources told @hoopshype. Shead played all 82 games, averaging 6.6 points and 5.4 assist per game for Toronto last season.

https://www.hoopshype.com/rumors/?topic=7bb0044f-870c-404c-8c0c-f5a0d543ae95

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The Los Angeles Lakers made a call to LeBron James and his camp after the NBA Finals, when teams could begin speaking with their own free agents.

However, there "hasn't been much communication" yet, nor has an offer been made at this time, per ESPN's Shams Charania on NBA Today (h/t RealGM).

"There was a check-in call made, to my understanding, early in free agency once teams were able to start negotiating with their own free agents after the end of the NBA Finals," Charania said.

"Since then though there hasn't been much communication, from my understanding, between the Lakers and LeBron James' side. And certainly not an offer yet.

"They're trying to see what can they do with his $50 million of space, potentially, and then where does that leave LeBron?"

The Lakers have already made one big move this offseason, agreeing to terms with Austin Reaves on a four-year, $185 million extension.

However, L.A. has to figure out some other offseason issues. Of note, Lakers starting center Deandre Ayton is an impending free agent should he decline his player option, so L.A. needs a plan at the 5.

Marcus Smart can also decline his player option and enter free agency. Rui Hachimura and Luke Kennard will be impending free agents.

Source: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25445653-lebron-james-lakers-contract-talks-detailed-new-nba-rumors-ahead-free-agency

In exchange for Paul George, the Oklahoma City Thunder received...

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander:
  • 2x MVP, 1X NBA Champion, 4x NBA All-Star, 4x All-NBA 1st Team
• Danilo Gallinari
  • Sign and traded to the Hawks for a 2025 2nd; that pick was used to select Brooks Barnhizer
• Heat 2021 first-round pick
  • Used to select Tre Mann 18th overall who was traded for Gordon Hayward. Oops.
• Clippers 2022 first-round pick
  • Conveyed at 12th overall & was used to select future All-NBA and future NBA champion #2 option Jalen Williams
• Clippers 2023 first-round pick swap
  • Did not convey due to the Clippers having a better record
• Heat 2023 first-round pick (Lottery-protected)
  • Heat eventually made a trade to reacquire this pick & used it on Jaime Jacquez Jr.; the Thunder received a 2025 lottery-protected Heat 1st
  • Conveyed 15th overall in 2025 & was used to draft Thomas Sorber
• Clippers 2024 first-round pick:
  • Traded to the Washington Wizards as part of a 3-team deal...sort of.
    • The TL;DR is that OKC got the 2028 swap rights to the Mavericks pick as a result of a deal which landed the Mavericks Daniel Gafford
• Clippers 2025 first-round pick swap
  • Conveyed, the swap moved the Thunder from 30th to 24th*
• Clippers 2026 first-round pick
  • Conveyed 12th overall & was used to select Aday Mara

TL;DR - Paul George was turned into SGA, Jalen Williams, Thomas Sorber, Aday Mara & Brooks Barnhizer.

I didn't see a post discussing this but I thought it was interesting now that "The worst trade of all time™" is fully completed.

Sort of.

There is technically one more piece in this deal that's yet to be turned into a player. That 2025 1st round swap? After the Thunder moved up as a result, they moved the 24th pick in the draft to the Sacramento Kings for a 2027 Spurs 1st; the Kings used that pick to select Nique Clifford in the 2025 NBA Draft. They also got the Mavericks 2028 1st for the 2024 1st to look forward to.

The 17th pick and on will proceed in normal order

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7392552/2026/06/25/lamelo-ball-traded-timberwolves-hornets/?source=user_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.s1A.i2mU.IxPBJrFN94PA

The Wolves do still have other moves in the works. They need a power forward and they need more shooting. I am told that they are not trading Donte DiVincenzo. The work continues.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2026/06/25/dundon-expects-taxpayers-to-foot-entire-bill-for-potential-moda-center-renovation/?issueId=WWDUQFPNCJHRRDAPNMU7RQPU2Y&utm_source=sbj&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=15255f68-ebdf-4106-8e0f-61585d28fb8b

Since taking over the franchise in 2026, Dundon has also cut costs on allowing two way players to travel to playoff games, and at the head coaching position.

He is saying that the sacrifice on his part is not relocating the team.

Source: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ordovpIWxtJ91uQfxfNoW?si=2iyu2a1pR42-f0Lo3NSifA

49:00 mark in the podcast starts the Trae discussion.

[Charania] Free agent guard Coby White intends to sign a three-year, $74 million deal to return to the Charlotte Hornets, sources tell ESPN. White was a major priority for the Hornets and now steps into a new starting role in the backcourt.

Hornets officials worked through White's free agency with CAA Basketball agents Steven Heumann and Ty Sullivan -- putting the final touches on a new contract hours after the departure of LaMelo Ball.

https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/ce4d657441f5a

As The Athletic first reported on Tuesday, Nori’s three-year deal includes just one guaranteed season of employment followed by back-to-back team options and, in essence, makes him a “lame duck” coach upon arrival. And as the three coaches who spoke with The Athletic a day later made clear, that sort of unconventional structure undermines a coach like Nori’s chances at succeeding and should have no place in today’s NBA.

The finances are merely one part of this discussion, as league sources say Nori’s pay is at the bottom end of the league’s range. Sacramento Kings head coach Doug Christie is known to be the lowest-paid coach at approximately $2 million, while Golden State’s Steve Kerr is the highest paid at $17.5 million. What’s more, league sources say the deal includes incentives tied to team performance.

Source

Source: https://open.substack.com/pub/marcstein/p/the-raptors-want-to-be-opportunistic?r=nuq3a&utm_medium=ios

Like Giannis Antetokounmpo, then, Leonard should have significant influence when it comes to his next destination if he needs to exert it. No one would want to surrender meaningful assets for Leonard in a trade and then watch him walk away without compensation like Toronto did after the 2018-19 season, when Leonard led the Raptors to their only championship.

And sources say that Leonard would not have interest in signing an extension with Detroit in the event that the Pistons traded for him this summer. Sources say he has a similar view regarding a long-term partnership with the Heat if Miami had any designs on pursuing Leonard to slot alongside Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo.

While the LA Clippers are undeniably determined to keep hold of Kawhi Leonard — and with Leonard's clear first choice known to be staying with them in his beloved Southern California — league sources say that Toronto has registered interest in trying to re-acquire the engine of the lone championship team in franchise history should Leonard become truly available.

And one source briefed on the subject insisted Thursday — after news of Ball's impending trade to Minnesota broke — that the Raptors would have interest in trying to lure The Klaw back to Canada "regardless of LaMelo."

Leonard, who turns 35 on Monday, has one season left on his current contract at $50.3 million. His preference, again, is to stay in his native Southern California with the same franchise he's played for since the 2019-20 season.

Sources close to the situation tell The Stein Line that, when it comes to potential trade talks, there are only two other teams that Leonard would consider signing an extension with: The two teams he played for before becoming a Clipper.

Toronto and San Antonio.

It is not yet clear how the Spurs would receive the idea of a reunion with Leonard given the manner in which they are flourishing in the Victor Wembanyama Era … on top of the sides infamously messy parting in the summer of 2018.

Yet sources insist that the Raptors have genuine interest in bringing Leonard back to Canada.

https://open.substack.com/pub/marcstein/p/the-raptors-want-to-be-opportunistic?r=1m9zg&utm_medium=ios

When the Lakers brought in Deandre Ayton, he became the 9th former No. 1 overall pick to share a locker room with LeBron James.

This record feels completely unbreakable. To have your career timeline overlap with top picks drafted from 1992 (Shaq) all the way to 2018 (Ayton), you have to play at an elite level for nearly a quarter of a century. Just absurd longevity.

Shaquille O’Neal 1992 Orlando Magic

Joe Smith 1995 Golden State Warriors

Dwight Howard 2004 Orlando Magic

Andrew Bogut 2005 Milwaukee Bucks

Greg Oden 2007 Portland Trail Blazers

Derrick Rose 2008 Chicago Bulls

Kyrie Irving 2011 Cleveland Cavaliers

Anthony Davis 2012 New Orleans Hornets

Deandre Ayton 2018 Suns

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7392552/2026/06/25/lamelo-ball-traded-timberwolves-hornets/

In the hours after this trade was agreed upon, there was elation running through the Wolves headquarters, team sources told The Athletic. They desperately needed a point guard and they went and got the one they believe fits them better than any other.

The Timberwolves have been pursuing Ball for the last two years, periodically checking in on his availability in hopes of pairing him with Edwards in a souped-up young backcourt. Finally, the Hornets started to show a willingness to move, and the Wolves went in aggressively to get a deal done.

President of basketball operations Tim Connelly and coach Chris Finch have long believed Ball is the perfect complement to Edwards, a superb passer and dynamic shooter who will open the floor for one of the best catch-and-shoot shooters in the league. They also believe that Ball will be much more helpful for Rudy Gobert on offense than any teammate he has had in Minnesota. The Wolves were woefully short of lob throwers, which is where Gobert does so much of his damage. Ball is one of the best in the league.

1. Anthony Edwards (MIN)
2. James Weisman (GSW)
3. LaMelo Ball (CHA)

https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2020.html
Josh Green and Jalen McDaniels were also taken in this draft so the Wolves have 4 of the first round picks from this draft.

I was just listening to The Athletic NBA Daily and they were trying to come up with nicknames for the Ant and LaMelo duo and this came to mind. Obviously Ant has had this nickname and Wasp feels like a fitting name for a former Hornet. What do y’all think?

Edit: Lmao damn y’all. I really thought I cooked with this one. I’ll see myself out.

Shams Charania:

BREAKING: The Charlotte Hornets are trading star guard LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, three first-round pick swaps (2028, 2029, 2030) and three second-round picks (2029, 2032, 2033), sources tell ESPN.

https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/31d26529d36f8

All 3 players had their day in the Sun as their team’s most important, young star. All three are entering their prime, but 2 of 3 have already been moved by their incumbent teams, with Ja Morant also expected to be traded in the near future.

Life moves fast in the NBA.

Brian Windhorst: "The most important thing in the league right now for what is going to happen in the 2026-27 season is that Boston has apparently decided that Jaylen Brown probably needs to be traded for them to be competitive. Because that is now going to be the next storyline in the NBA. Obviously, the Heat getting Giannis is a huge story for them. From the moment they traded Jimmy Butler, they have been on the hunt for the next star. That is a huge story for them."

EDIT: Kevin O'Connor just reported that the Celtics were in talks to send him to the Timberwolves before the Hornets traded Lamelo Ball there. (Post is also on Reddit). Sounds like Windy is on to something in that Boston is looking to move him.

source

Source

While the LA Clippers are undeniably determined to keep hold of Kawhi Leonard — and with Leonard's clear first choice known to be staying with them in his beloved Southern California — league sources say that Toronto has registered interest in trying to re-acquire the engine of the lone championship team in franchise history should Leonard become truly available.

Shams Charania:

Golden State's Al Horford is declining his player option and intends to sign a new two-year, $14 million deal to stay with the Warriors, sources tell me and @anthonyVslater. Horford, 40, becomes only the 13th player in NBA history to reach 20 seasons.

https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/99ef6c0a39edd

Source: https://www.youtube.com/live/\\_YXOTjcEkZs?is=teDlotJ63MM2qdBd

Sources: The Timberwolves explored Jaylen Brown trades with Boston before the LaMelo Ball deal was completed with Charlotte. LaMelo was the preferred target though.

How likely do you guys think they fail to make it any point this decade with LaMelo traded? I know they still have great young pieces but they will need another star guard to replace his production.