Shams: “They are really prioritizing 2-year contracts right now. They want to have max salary space in 2027. What we’re seeing right now is essentially a moment of truth between LeBron James and the Lakers”

Shams:

"They are really prioritizing 2-year contracts right now. They want to have max salary space in 2027. What we're seeing right now is essentially a moment of truth between Lebron James and the Lakers" pic.twitter.com/FwZ9QR3yxs

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) July 1, 2025

3 hours ago – via x.com

Theo Pinson: Bron leaving LA

3 hours ago – via x.com

Jake Fischer: The Pistons have also been linked to Duncan Robinson, so targeting Monk makes sense in dollar bracket, secondary shooting. Capologists around the league have been penciling Schroder at two years, $28 million on Sacramento’s books for 2025-26.

3 hours ago – via x.com

See, the Blazers could live with Ayton missing shots or his man scoring on him. They could even live with him being limited by injuries to 55 and 40 games in his two seasons in Portland. But in the end, they couldn’t live with his bad ways. The tardiness to team flights and practices, according to a team source. The skipping of rehabilitation appointments. Fans saw him slam chairs when he was taken out of games. And a team source said there were tantrums in the locker room when he was sidelined for poor effort.

3 hours ago – via New York Times

3 hours ago – via Poker Scout

Matt Barnes: But with new ownership—who’s obviously tied to Magic Johnson—and Magic is tied to Rob in the Commanders deal… do we smell what The Rock is cooking? Or am I crazy to think that Magic could be on his way back to the Lakers at some point? Maybe with Bob Myers—a fellow Bruin, the great mind behind the Golden State Warriors—who’s just sitting at home collecting checks, looking good on ESPN, owning NFL teams. As a Laker fan, what would you think?

3 hours ago – via YouTube

Matt Barnes: I just don’t like it—none of this weird talk was happening when he was here. And I want to say something else. I work for ESPN, I work for Fox—some of these big machines. When they talk about the greatness of players, it’s not that I don’t respect it… I just don’t go by it. A lot of former players don’t either. You gotta listen to your peers. It’s crazy—on ESPN, Kobe’s always outside the top 10. But when you talk to guys who went to war before or after or with him, they say, ‘Kobe’s two. Kobe’s three. Kobe’s top five.’”

3 hours ago – via YouTube

The 57-year-old’s effort and commitment went into overdrive during the NBA Playoffs, the same way they did over the last several springs, with Smith often pulling double duty with First Take in the morning and basketball studio analysis at night. This, however, will be the last time Smith encounters this particular set of circumstances at ESPN. With the Inside the NBA crew moving over from TNT Sports starting next season, Smith will no longer have those late NBA Countdown assignments. “Inside The NBA is coming here and nobody can be happier for that than me,” Stephen A. continued. “Not just because those guys are great, but it gives me what I believe to be well-earned relief. It’s been a long time. I’ve been covering the NBA for 30 years, so I’m going to get somewhat of a reprieve to some degree in that regard in terms of an inordinate amount of assignments that I’ve had in the past. So, I’m happy about that.”

3 hours ago – via boardroom.tv

To start the week, my colleague Austin Karp has some takes on recent viewership figures: This was the second year that the NBA Draft was a two-day affair, and excluding the pandemic years, it was among the lowest NBA Draft audiences on record (a sharp drop for the first round being the main culprit). The full two nights across ESPN and ABC averaged just under 2.6 million viewers, which is down 5% from last year. Back in 2021, with the draft pushed into mid-July by COVID, it averaged 2.26 million. In 2020, when the draft was in November due to COVID (and without an ABC telecast), it averaged 2.13 million. With records dating back to 2008, no other NBA Draft was under 2.6 million viewers.

3 hours ago – via Sports Business Journal

Shams Charania: Free agent sharpshooter Gary Trent Jr. has agreed to a two-year, $7.5 million deal to return to the Milwaukee Bucks, plus a player option, sources tell ESPN. Bucks made strong efforts to retain Trent and negotiated deal with Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul and agent Lucas Newton.

6 hours ago – via Twitter ShamsCharania