Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch made the case for Minnesota being the best landing spot for LeBron James during a Bleacher Report live stream on Friday with Jake Fischer and Marc Stein of The Stein Line .
Finch added that Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul hasn’t informed the Wolves they’re no longer in the running for James, who’s an unrestricted free agent. Several teams are reportedly in the mix for the 22-time All-Star forward.
Later in the same live stream, Stein said James seems to be monitoring three Eastern Conference teams — the Cavaliers, Heat and Sixers — more closely than Western suitors .
“What I do believe, based on actual reporting … is Cleveland, Miami, Philly,” Stein said. “He is looking at Eastern Conference destinations with much more seriousness (than anticipated before free agency began)…He’s apparently open to going very, very far away from where he’s been for the last eight years.”
ESPN’s Shams Charania also discussed James’ free agency during a SiriusXM NBA Radio appearance on Saturday and confirmed that rival teams view the Cavs, Heat and Sixers as the apparent frontrunners .
“Every team that’s in it still believes they have a chance and is still engaged with Rich Paul on a daily basis, hourly basis. Cleveland, Miami, Golden State (Warriors), Minnesota, Philadelphia, those are the five teams that I’ve been hearing,” Charania said. “… When I talk to other teams, they look at Cleveland a lot, Miami, and Philadelphia. Those are the three teams that others view as strong here.”
Here are a few more rumors on current free agents:
- Veteran point guard Russell Westbrook a nine-time All-Star and former NBA MVP, is a candidate to join the Heat but only if they miss out on signing LeBron, a league source tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. Bondy has also heard Cleveland, Miami and Philadelphia are the presumed favorites to land James. Westbrook, who spent two seasons in Los Angeles with James, played for the Kings last season and was linked to the Wizards by Stein and Fischer.
- Five-year NBA veteran Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is in advanced contract talks with Aris BC in Greece, sources tell Stavros Barbarousis of Eurohoops.net. The 32nd overall pick in the 2021 draft, Robinson-Earl spent part of last season with Indiana and Dallas, appearing in 22 combined games. He spent the rest of 2025/26 in the G League. SDNA first reported the Greek team’s interest in the 25-year-old forward.
- Spanish powerhouse Barcelona is among the teams interested in Stanley Umudeaccording to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews. The 27-year-old wing, who holds for years of NBA experience, spent about two months of last season on a two-way contract with San Antonio prior to being released in late February. He primarily played for the Austin Spurs in ’25/26.
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