LeBron James is a free agent ahead of his 24th season in the NBA.
At this point, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers appear to be the favorites to land James. Other teams, such as the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors, are other options for the NBA superstar.
With James’ decision reportedly coming soon, Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly had a strong recruiting pitch for the former Los Angeles Lakers star.
“The recruitment is just this team,” Connelly said, via Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “Obviously, he’s an unbelievable player. Whatever decision he makes is going to be the right one. There’s a lot going on. When you’re as great as he is, you should have optionality. When you look at our team, it’s hard not to be excited about what we have.”
Connelly also said he is “proud” of the team the Timberwolves are.
“I like who we are and we’re pretty proud of who we are,” Connelly said on Tuesday. “Hopefully that’s appealing, not just to LeBron, but to any free agent.”
The decision is expected to come this week, although nobody knows what is happening regarding LeBron James.
At the Las Vegas Summer League on Monday, ESPN’s Shams Charania named the 76ers, Cavs and Heat as the three teams James is reportedly “focused” on, although he said five teams remain “in the mix.”
On Tuesday, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin added that Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and Jaylen Brown are all in contact with James to try to persuade him to go to Philadelphia.
The Timberwolves have never won an NBA title in their existence, so James bringing a Larry O’Brien trophy would be icing on the cake for his career. This appears to be the pitch for Minnesota.
Minnesota just acquired LaMelo Ball in a trade with the Charlotte Hornets, and a trio of Ball, James and Anthony Edwards would be something tough to deal with for opposing teams.
