LeBron James seriously considered five teams at various points this offseason. He ultimately landed on the Philadelphia 76ers, signing a two-year, minimum-salary deal in what he described as the "last decision" of his legendary career. Thousands and thousands of words have already been written on what that decision means for the 76ers, suddenly the most interesting team in the NBA.
But Philadelphia obviously isn't the only team impacted by James' decision. One team landed LeBron, but four more spent a month waiting for the answer they didn't want to hear. The Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Minnesota Timberwolves all, to some degree, bet their 2027 championship hopes on James doing for them what he ultimately did for Philadelphia.
There is no real alternative available to any of them. There is no other James-level free agent on the market, and if there were, he wouldn't take the minimum salary as the billionaire James did. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and four teams fell short. Now each of them will attempt to move forward with more modest moves, and some of them are better-positioned to do so than others. So with James now Philadelphia-bound, let's try to figure out what comes next for the four teams that swung and missed on arguably the greatest player in NBA history.
Golden State's championship window has closed
Think of all of the success the Warriors have had in free agency over the years. They convinced Kevin Durant to join a 73-win team in 2016. DeMarcus Cousins signing for the taxpayer mid-level exception in 2018 felt league-breaking at the time. They've frequently been among the most desirable minimum-salary destinations in the NBA, with notable names like Otto Porter and Donte DiVincenzo flocking to Golden State for well-below their true worth.
Players have always wanted to play for Golden State. The allure of Stephen Curry has been strong for a decade. They should have had the inside track on James. With a return to the Los Angeles Lakers off the table, they were the team best-positioned to keep him close to his California-based family. He has relationships with several key figures in Golden State and seemingly has a healthy respect for the organization that beat him in the Finals three times. Yet he didn't pass up the Warriors for a sentimental return to Cleveland or Miami. He chose the eternally cursed 76ers, run by Golden State's former general manager in Bob Myers, because they simply represented a better chance to win than the Warriors did.
That feels like the end of a chapter. Maybe the end of a book. If LeBron James doesn't hold the Warriors in their former esteem, it's hard to imagine other big-name players do. They were not one LeBron James away from returning to the championship picture, and he knew that. Their only viable path -- and given the age and injury concerns attached to this roster, it was a narrow one -- would have been trading for another superstar as a recruiting tool to land James on a discount. Maybe, maybe, the Warriors could have competed for a title with two stars incoming. If you're two stars away from a championship, then you aren't close to a championship.
The Warriors -- probably correctly -- determined that no available player justified a substantial draft pick investment. James is 42 and Curry is 39. A reigning No. 10 seed absolutely should not mortgage its future for a year or two of contention at best, no matter what is or is not owed to Curry as the greatest player in franchise history. There's no path to keeping up with the Oklahoma City or San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.
Realistically, in the flattened lottery era, the Warriors are stealth-rebuilding at this point. They're a Play-In Tournament team at best right now, perhaps with a bit of late-season upside when Jimmy Butler returns from his torn ACL. If the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz improve as much as they should, Golden State could get nudged out of the top 10 altogether. That's not the worst fate in this draft climate. It also probably isn't how Curry envisioned the end of his career.
The Warriors would never trade Curry unless he asked. There has been no indication whatsoever that he would ever ask. As much basketball sense as a Curry trade would make to launch a rebuild, it's just little more than a pipe dream at this point. The Warriors will let him finish his career as he sees fit. If he wants to move, he'll almost certainly pick his destination. If he wants to stay, he will continue to make max money, and is eligible for a two-year extension in August. That's the safe bet at this point. Less certain is who he'll have around him.
When this publishes, James will have been a 76er for almost 24 hours. It feels a bit strange that Draymond Green hasn't re-signed yet... right? James was available for almost a month. You'd think the Warriors would have had the parameters of an offer ready for Green in the event that they couldn't recruit him. Golden State has full Bird Rights and no better way to spend this season than paying a franchise icon to keep Curry invested and sell tickets. There's no cap space out there and only a handful of mid-level exceptions, which probably wouldn't be worth enough to entice Green anyway. Unless Green wants to play with James badly enough to take the minimum (don't bet on it), he'd need a sign-and-trade to get paid appropriately elsewhere. There have been no rumblings about one to this point, but Golden State's offseason has been on hold as it has waited for James.
The expectation here should be that Green does eventually re-sign, and the Warriors round out their roster with two more low-level free agents. They've been linked to DeMar DeRozan, but his playing style is so antithetical to what Steve Kerr has spent a decade building that his mere talent probably wouldn't be enough to make such a move worthwhile. An aggressive pursuit of Mario Hezonja in his return to the NBA after a successful stint in Europe seems more likely. Golden State badly needs more ball-handling and shooting.
Any such moves would amount to little more than shuffling deck chairs on this Titanic. The Warriors have entered a different phase of their existence. Curry is still too good to turn the next few years into an extended retirement tour, but the Warriors have wisely resisted the urge to spend their future turning it into anything more. It's going to be a tough few seasons in Golden State.
Cleveland's miss stings more than anyone else's
The Warriors may be in a worse overall position than the Cavaliers at this point, but it's not as though the James pursuit interfered with any of their other business. They managed to keep Kristaps Porziņģis, Al Horford and De'Anthony Melton. Golden State's overall position is no worse now than it was a month ago. That position just happened to already be quite poor.
But Cleveland staked this offseason entirely on the James pursuit. The Cavaliers lost Dean Wade and Keon Ellis -- their two best on-ball defenders -- in order to preserve financial flexibility to chase LeBron.
There are no worthwhile replacements out there. The Cavaliers have been linked to Jonathan Kuminga in part due to his relationship with Kenny Atkinson going back to their time together in Golden State. That's a low-odds swing on a high-lottery talent who has never consistently done the sort of role player things Cleveland needs out of its fifth starter. He wants shots that Cleveland can't offer. Jaylon Tyson is already in-house and deserves a chance to start. Either way, they've lost depth. They were just the runner-up of an Eastern Conference that got substantially stronger. They were not one piece away from the Knicks as it was, even if that piece had been LeBron.
The Cavaliers had a lot of optionality entering the offseason. If they'd wanted to go all-in on the present, there was probably an Evan Mobley-for-Giannis Antetokounmpo trade available to them. If they'd wanted to go all-in on the future, they could have traded Donovan Mitchell before extending him. But now Mitchell is on a supermax contract that's somewhat terrifying for a small, aging guard with a recent history of lower-body injuries. There's no Antetokounmpo-level player available to offer Mobley for, and there may not be one any time soon. There was a window available for Cleveland to drastically alter its roster. That window is probably now closed. They wanted LeBron to ride in on a white horse and save them as he did in 2014. There's no savior available here.
The first order of business here will presumably be re-signing James Harden. He'll turn 37 next month and is mostly a regular-season innings eater at this point. Any multi-year deal here has downside potential. With only $25 million or so in first-apron room, there's no realistic way to preserve the non-taxpayer mid-level exception without trading Max Strus or Dennis Schröder. Giving up draft capital to do so for the team in its present condition probably isn't worthwhile. Cleveland will seemingly look into Hezonja as well. Your options are limited when you wait until the end of July to start seriously pursuing free agents.
If there's a "get Cleveland back into the Finals mix" trade to be made here, it probably comes during the season. They still owe two first-round picks and a swap from the Mitchell trade, but control their own picks from 2030 onward (though their 2033 pick is frozen). If they wanted to mount an all-in pursuit of a wing, say Herb Jones in New Orleans, they could probably do so. But there's some real introspection needed here. Cleveland isn't under the gun. Mitchell and Mobley have long-term contracts. Harden is aging, and the depth is depleted. The Cavaliers need to figure out what they are and what direction they should actually be moving in before they can start throwing picks around. The rest of the offseason should be quiet. The season will indicate where they go next.
Miami needs multiple transaction cycles to build a contender
The Heat obviously wanted James. Who wouldn't want a high-level starter for a minimum salary? They certainly need more shot-creation, and frankly, talent. They spent most of their assets getting Giannis Antetokounmpo. Essentially using those assets to land both Antetokounmpo and James would have made it easier to swallow that cost.
But little the Heat have done this offseason suggests they felt they needed James. They've acted with very little urgency for the 2026-27 season. The structure of their new contract with Andrew Wiggins was the tell. They could have balanced the money out across all three seasons in order to maximize 2026 spending power. They perhaps could have used that extra money to try to retain Norman Powell, or maybe get a bit more creative with their mid-level exception. Instead, they front-loaded the deal by having Wiggins pick up his player option, and tacking a cheap extension on the back end. More expensive now. Less expensive later.
They're trying to preserve financial flexibility for the future here. The Tim Haradway Jr. contract sends that same message. Why use one of your precious financial resources on a one-year deal for a reserve when something closer to the full mid-level exception easily could have gotten them a starter on a multi-year deal? James might wind up playing multiple seasons. He signed a two-year deal, after all. But the Heat seem intent on slow-playing their build around Antetokounmpo to an extent rather than pushing all of their chips into the present, as James tends to prefer out of his teams.
Nonetheless, there is still a roster to fill out here. Miami has to fill at least two more spots, and it seems as though they'll go hunting for big names with them in as much as it's possible to do so with only $10.6 million in first-apron space. They've been linked to DeRozan forever. His limitations as a 3-point shooter make him an iffy fit next to Antetokounmpo, but he'd at least lift their bench offense. Bradley Beal is another name to watch. The Heat seem prepared to take some talent swings to address their offense. If Klay Thompson secures a buyout, his shooting would be quite welcome.
They have around $49 million in projected first-apron space next summer. They'll have clarity on the fates of some of their own future first-round picks, with a protected 2027 selection owed to Charlotte muddying their ability to trade. Bobby Portis will be more movable on an expiring deal in a year. The expectation here should be that Miami adds some older free agents, but otherwise spends this season evaluating their internal talent before charting a new course next summer. They should be able to re-sign Davion Mitchell and Pelle Larsson and still use the full mid-level exception if they want to, and they'll probably be fairly active traders.
Having James for the minimum would have made all of this easier, but he was more of a luxury to Miami than he was to Cleveland or Golden State. The Heat have an MVP candidate in his prime. The Cavaliers and Warriors don't. Miami's championship fate always hinged on building a team that suits Antetokounmpo, and shooting has always meant more on that front than the ball-handling that James would have brought.
James was always something of a fantasy for Minnesota
By the end of the pursuit, Rich Paul claimed James was considering four teams. Minnesota apparently was not one of them because, according to Rich Paul, "it's freezing there." The Timberwolves have pulled off their fair share of stunning transactions over the years, but they can't control the weather. The James fit was too perfect not to pursue. They have practically nothing at power forward after trading Naz Reid and Julius Randle, and his passing would have furthered their efforts to prevent teams from doubling Anthony Edwards. But the odds were never in their favor. Now they can move on to more realistic business.
The Timberwolves have one roster spot to fill and around $4 million in second-apron hard cap space. That probably means they're signing one more free agent and calling it an offseason. A reunion with Kevin Love would be the sentimental choice, especially since they still have so little at power forward. Perhaps a low-risk swing on a former first-round pick like Jeremy Sochan or Olivier-Maxence Prosper could make sense as well. Something in this ballpark is the likeliest course of action.
But Tim Connelly tends to prefer the "shock and awe" school of roster-building, so we have to at least consider glitzier options. Might they place a call to Draymond Green to address their power forward hole? The notion of him ever uniting with Rudy Gobert would be high comedy, but LeBron James just signed with Jaylen Brown's team two years after Brown said that he didn't think his son was a pro, so anything is possible. Minnesota's only financial path would be a sign-and-trade. The Timberwolves have no real pick equity left to trade. Maybe Golden State would want a young player like Terrence Shannon or Joan Beringer to go along with expiring contracts like DiVincenzo or Josh Green. It's longer than a long shot, but hey, we're talking about Tim Connelly here.
More likely, the Timberwolves open the season with a power forward-by-committee approach. Shannon will get some minutes there. So will Jaden McDaniels. Trey Lyles will get a shot and so will whoever they sign into their 14th roster slot. But at the deadline, it's hard to imagine they won't shop around at least using Josh Green's $14.7 million expiring deal. At that point, perhaps there's a rebuilding team looking to move off of an expensive contract at the position. P.J. Washington comes to mind in Dallas, considering all of the forwards the Mavericks have added. That would probably be Minnesota's cleanest route to a starting power forward.
Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball are going into their age-25 seasons. McDaniels turns 26 in September. The Timberwolves have time to sort this out. They would have loved James as both an immediate talent infusion and stopgap while they sought out a longer-term solution, but this was likely always the situation they anticipated for themselves when they traded Randle and Reid. They're very limited in the sort of moves they can make right now. If it takes a year to find a new power forward, that's not the end of the world.
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