Who’s your GOAT? Dash Daniels: My GOAT is LeBron James. He’s in my timeline. I’ve watched him my whole career, and just being able to see what he does in year 23 is pretty insane, and the longevity of his career and all that, how he takes care of his body, that’s my go for sure. — 7/16/2026 HoopsHype

After initially holding optimism that LeBron James would return to the Los Angeles Lakers, Michael Cooper hardly wanted to make another prediction on James’ future. Still, Cooper at least maintained that he doesn’t think James will join a team already tailor-made to win an NBA title. “I don’t believe he is chasing a ring,” Cooper told Fadeaway World. “I just think he wants a good position that puts him in to where he can fit in and possibly win a championship.” — 7/16/2026 Fade Away World

Now, DeRozan’s prospective new teams include ones affected by both James and Leonard. The Heat have tossed around the idea of DeRozan for years, league sources said, but they are in on James. If they don’t acquire one wing scorer, then maybe they turn to another. After all, DeRozan may no longer be an All-Star, but he still averaged more than 18 points last season. — 7/16/2026 New York Times

Sam Amick: “The most telling behavior thing publicly is Kenny Atkinson just openly talking on SiriusXM Radio about them being in the running for maybe the best player of all time. And his energy, he is going to take some flak from Cavs fans if they don’t get him. He was maybe a little over his skis there and I am not sure if that is a sign of optimism from him or something else, but yeah, I am not sure which way it is going to go.” — 7/16/2026 YouTube

Isaiah Thomas: “I really believe he’s going to go back home, go to Cleveland, end it in storybook ending, see if they can run off a championship or not, and end it back where he started.” — 7/16/2026 YouTube

Like everybody else, Kevin Durant is fully mindful of the ongoing buzz and development surrounding LeBron James’ free agency. And if he has to choose which is the best stop possible for his longtime rival and contemporary, the Houston Rockets superstar only has two teams in mind. “That’s the million-dollar question, I wish I knew,” Durant said when asked which he thinks LeBron will join in a brief video interview from theScore. “In my heart of hearts, if I had to choose one, I would say Cleveland,” Durant argued. “But Philly got a big chance, too.” — 7/16/2026 BasketNews

As the interviewer said he is waiting for the day that both he and LeBron would join forces on one NBA team, Durant could only laugh and provide a blunt answer. “Well you gonna be waiting for the rest of your life forever,” Durant hilariously said. “I don’t think that’s happening. “We both 40 years old, man.” — 7/16/2026 BasketNews

Has the Heat won the James sweepstakes? No. But maybe it will soon. According to ESPN NBA insider Dave McMenamin, who has followed James’ career about as closely as one can, the Heat is among a very shortlist of teams seriously in play to land James. “I would say, from speaking to people close to LeBron, speaking to people around the league, Miami remains a realistic possibility of where he’s gonna choose (to play),” McMenamin said on the “Rich Eisen Show.” — 7/16/2026 Yahoo! Sports

It has to be any moment now, right? After all, in each of the previous three free agencies James has experienced, none ate up more than two weeks of July. ESPN NBA insider Dave McMenamin, who has followed James’ career as closely as humanly possible, gave insight into when James might make a decision. “I’ve been given no indication that it’s going to happen this week,” McMenamin said, referring to James’ scheduled public appearances in New York later this week.“… Generally when you get to August through early September, that’s the dead period for the NBA. If LeBron decides to drag it on into August, which he did hint back in that podcast appearance with Steve Nash a couple months that he may do, if he does that, quite frankly it’s not just my summer that he’s affecting or disrupting, it’s the people involved with these teams.” — 7/16/2026 Yahoo! Sports

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr seems, at least in jest, to have the answer to the question currently stalling the last moves of NBA free agency. Where will LeBron James sign to play next season? In a video posted to X, fans caught Kerr in his car and asked him to sign James. A reunion between James and his Team USA coach and teammate — and longtime rivals — in Kerr and Stephen Curry at Golden State has long been rumored. “Oh, we got him,” Kerr said. — 7/16/2026 New York Times