Saturday, July 25, 2026

The league's basketball calendar has gone dark, and it stays that way until fall. The 2026 Summer League wrapped in Las Vegas earlier this month with Golden State's young roster taking the title, and there are no meaningful games on the docket until preseason opens in October.

So the next date every fan is circling is the schedule release, not a box score. The full 2026-27 slate is expected in mid-August, with the marquee Opening Night and Christmas Day matchups typically unveiled a few days earlier, and the season projected to tip off on Tuesday, October 20 (via Yahoo Sports).

The biggest name in basketball changed jerseys on Friday. LeBron James, 41 and entering a record 24th season, agreed to a two-year deal worth about $8 million with the Philadelphia 76ers, walking away from the Lakers after eight years to chase another title alongside Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown. The pact, a veteran's minimum with a player option, was reported by ESPN's Shams Charania (a Topps trading-card release technically beat him to it by seconds). Still an All-Star at 41 after averaging 20.9 points and 7.2 assists last season, James said he "still wants to compete, to win and to have a chance at the feeling of winning another championship" (via Yahoo Sports).

One of LeBron's old title teammates wants in on it. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the 33-year-old three-and-D wing who won a championship with James in the 2020 bubble, is negotiating a buyout of his $21.62 million expiring contract with Memphis so he can sign with Philadelphia, per insider Chris Haynes. The 76ers can only offer the veteran's minimum, so Caldwell-Pope would leave real money on the table to reunite with LeBron (via HoopsHype).

With no standings to read in July, the pecking order lives in the projections. ESPN's post-offseason power rankings slot the Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 1, the Spurs second and LeBron's revamped 76ers inside the top five. Oklahoma City actually got a touch worse on paper, shedding depth (Luguentz Dort, Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe) to duck under the second apron, the hard payroll ceiling that penalizes the biggest spenders, but its young core keeps it atop the board (via ESPN).

The East is where the projections get interesting. ESPN's forward-looking stack has Indiana positioned to climb back toward the top of the conference on the strength of a full, healthy season from Tyrese Haliburton, while Milwaukee sits near the bottom after trading away Giannis Antetokounmpo. None of it moves for real until camps open and injury news starts reshaping rotations (via ESPN).

The most-watched rehab in the Bay Area belongs to Jimmy Butler. The Warriors wing, who tore his right ACL on January 19 and had surgery about three weeks later, has "turned the corner a little bit in the last few weeks" but still cannot sprint in a full line, ESPN's Anthony Slater reported, relaying Golden State's cautious internal read. Butler, who turns 37 in September, has no announced return date, and a realistic target sits deep into the 2026-27 season (via Yahoo Sports).

New York got its scare out of the way early. Jalen Brunson, the 2026 Finals MVP, revealed he played the Knicks' title run through a left wrist injury and underwent surgery in early July to repair soft tissue, with no structural damage found. He is expected in a cast for roughly six weeks before rehab, and is targeting a return to the court by mid-September, ahead of training camp, with no indication he will miss the start of next season (via Yahoo Sports).

The summer's marquee free agent still has no home. Jonathan Kuminga, the explosive 23-year-old forward who bet on himself rather than accept an early low-ball offer, remains unsigned roughly three weeks into free agency, and the Cleveland Cavaliers have joined the Lakers, Bucks, Kings and Hawks in circling him. Cleveland is a natural fit: coach Kenny Atkinson coached Kuminga as a Warriors assistant, though landing him would still require a sign-and-trade with Atlanta, which holds his rights (via HoopsHype).

The bottleneck is Atlanta's asking price. The Lakers and Hawks have discussed a package built around Jarred Vanderbilt and a 2032 first-round pick swap, but Atlanta has been resistant to absorbing Vanderbilt's salary, and the standoff has frozen Kuminga's market for weeks. Until it breaks, the best available player keeps a chunk of the offseason on hold (via HoopsHype).

The Kawhi Leonard saga now has a completed trade stuck in the freezer. The Clippers agreed in principle on June 30 to send Leonard, a two-time Finals MVP, to the Toronto Raptors, but the deal is on hold and cannot be finalized until the NBA finishes investigating whether the Clippers circumvented the salary cap to pay him through the now-bankrupt firm Aspiration. Commissioner Adam Silver said the probe is "going on longer than I would have hoped" but must wrap before next season, and depending on the findings, Leonard's contract could even be voided (via CBS Sports).

The league's map may be about to grow. The NBA's Board of Governors approved a vote to take the next steps toward adding expansion teams in Seattle and Las Vegas, with bids expected to land in the $7 billion to $10 billion range per franchise and the league eyeing the 2028-29 season for the newcomers. Two additions out West would force a realignment, likely pushing a current Western Conference team (Minnesota and Memphis have been floated) over to the East (via CBS Sports).