LeBron James

LeBron James teased "The decision of all decisions … #TheSecondDecision" tomorrow at noon with a video of him sitting down in a chair across from an interviewer, evoking memories of his 2010 Decision show with Jim Gray.

Is LeBron announcing his farewell tour? A new ad campaign? Both?

Today's announcement of an announcement worked: I am intrigued. Prepared to be disappointed by a marketing gimmick. But intrigued, nonetheless.

Expansion

Expansion is seen as when, not if, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

In the longest term, that's probably true. Over the ensuing decades, the NBA will likely grow.

But I remain unconvinced the league will absolutely expand in the medium term, with it just being a matter of which year.

That could happen. I wouldn't be surprised.

But I'm uncertain existing owners value an influx of cash through expansion fees at the expense of diluting their shares over the long run. Turning 1/30th of national-TV revenue into 1/32nd of national-TV revenue forever holds major downside.

10 people

Excellent framing from Tim Bontemps of ESPN on the 10 people who could define the 2025-26 season. This article really gets at what is making the league tick – on and off the floor.

The two names I would've strongly considered adding (though knocking out someone is tough): Steve Ballmer and Victor Wembanyama. Bontemps included Kawhi Leonard and Adam Silver – but I think this Clippers scandal is that important. And Wembanyama could become a game-breaking superstar at any moment.

Circumvention

Within the last few years, Marc Stein said he heard whispers of a player re-signing for less money with the pledge the team will take care of him down the road. That'd be salary-cap circumvention. Teams and players aren't allowed to agree to future contracts.

Funnily, the team that comes to mind is the Clippers, with Nicolas Batum. He used Non-Bird Rights to re-sign for 120% of the minimum in 2021, established Early Bird Rights, opted out in 2022 then re-signed again for two years, $23 million.

That's a bit before Stein's timeline, but the Clippers have repeatedly signed Batum since (after trading him to the 76ers) – including this year.

Of course, there are gray areas. An explicit, written promise of a future contract is a major violation. See the Timberwolves with Joe Smith. But what if the Clippers merely explained to Batum how much they valued him and how useful his Early Bird Rights could be?

All-Star

The NBA will keep 2026 All-Star at the Clippers' arena, Adam Silver said, via Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press.

Since this scandal broke, has Silver said anything that wasn't partial to the Clippers or neutral?

He could have dodged this question and gotten the same result. The investigation will reportedly drag past the All-Star break, anyway. Silver could have just waited it out, allowing All-Star Weekend to occur in L.A. before the investigation concludes.

Instead, Silver made a point to say the Clippers will keep All-Star.

Jonathan Kuminga

Alex Simon of SFGate aggregates reporters criticizing Jonathan Kuminga and his agent for bungling the forward's restricted free agency.

Maybe Kuminga and Aaron Turner could have done more prior to avoid being so trapped. But once they were stuck in this spot, I thought they did alright.

No, Kuminga didn't get the larger contract he wanted. No, he didn't get the sign-and-trade he wanted. No, he didn't get the player option he wanted. No, he couldn't avoid the team option he didn't want. No, he couldn't keep the implicit no-trade clause he wanted.

But what was he supposed to do?

The Warriors had nearly all the leverage.

Kuminga could've taken the qualifying offer to spite them, and it would have hurt them. But it would have hurt him, too.

So, Kuminga took a reasonable choice among the unappealing options. By waiting, he got nearly $900,000 more this year over Golden State's reported prior two-year offer. That isn't nothing.

Sure, his delay irked many. But their impatience isn't his problem – and doesn't really matter. Training camp wasn't opening any sooner if Kuminga signed in July. Missing media day is inconsequential.

That extra nearly $900,000 matters far more, and Kuminga got that out of a stone.

Miami Heat

Nikola Jovic's extension starts higher next season then dips in 2027-28, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac.

The difference isn't huge, but it's revealing about the Heat's plan. They appear to be prioritizing 2027 cap space over 2026 cap space.

We project Miami to remain over the cap next summer, with Andrew Wiggins opting in for $30,169,644.

But we project the Heat to have $81 million cap space in 2027, though that doesn't include Tyler Herro.

Ja Morant

Ja Morant is week-to-week with a sprained left ankle.

Not the start the Grizzlies wanted.

-Dan Feldman