The Cleveland Cavaliers are now the MASSIVE favorites to land LeBron James. 61% — Cleveland Cavaliers 16% — Golden State Warriors

Lance Stephenson vs. Montrezl Harrell will be must-watch TV. 🔥 The BIG3 is back today! Make sure to tune in for this matchup at 3:30 PM ET

SGA really cut the braids 👀

An anonymous NBA general manager doesn’t view Jaylen Brown as a top-50 player, per @TheAthletic “Though the idea of him being viewed as the seventh-best player on a given team was widely mocked, a recent report that one front-office member saw Brown in that way illuminated the reality that advanced analytics never shined too brightly on Brown’s game. Even more pointedly, a current general manager, speaking anonymously to comment on internal team discussions, told The Athletic in the wake of the trade that he doesn’t view Brown as a top-50 player in the NBA.” (Via nytimes.com/athletic/7418310…)

The Boston Celtics felt that Jaylen Brown went off script after they blew a 3–1 series lead to Philadelphia, per @TheAthletic “Contributing to concerns about the situation, the Celtics believed that Brown went off script too often during playoff games as Boston blew a 3-1 first-round lead to Philadelphia, according to a league source. Over the final three games of that series, the Celtics were outscored by 57 points with Brown on the court.” (Via nytimes.com/athletic/7418310…)

The Trail Blazers’ analytics department reportedly viewed Jaylen Brown as a negative player 😳, per @TheAthletic “Another team with widely reported interest, the Trail Blazers, similarly did not join the chase. A Blazers team source said the Blazers were never enamored with Brown, even before Boston made it known he was available on the trade market. Two factors went into the Blazers’ disinterest: Their analytics viewed him as a negative player and the Celtics’ asking price was too high.” (Via nytimes.com/athletic/7418310…)

"Boston... they packed me up.... Boston they packed me up my boy" - Jaylen Brown (h/t @big_business_ )

The Knicks are monitoring LeBron James, per @JakeLFischer (Via @BleacherReport )

“Morey was on the phone three weeks ago, a month ago. So, Morey was just the most aggressive GM here. Daryl likes transactions, and Daryl was hyper-aggressive.” - Colin Cowherd on the Sixers trading for Jaylen Brown (h/t @BackAftaThis )

The Warriors are okay with running it back with the same roster if they don’t make a big splash this offseason, per @anthonyVslater “The Warriors, team sources said, very much believe they're still in the mix for James but still have been given no indication they're any type of front-runner. As ESPN's Shams Charania reports, James' agent, Rich Paul, is taking pitches from a handful of interested teams and the expectation is James will take time before deciding. That time would allow these suitors, including the Warriors, to beef up their rosters to better appeal to James, perhaps with a splashy trade. The Warriors would seem to have the contract-matching flexibility and first-round draft picks to execute such a move, though there remain continued signs that the front office is content if they have to run it back with mostly the same roster.” (Via espn.com/nba/story/_/id/4837…)

Slow down…

The Celtics, Pistons, and Rockets discussed a three-team trade that would’ve sent Alperen Sengun to Boston, Kevin Durant to Detroit, and Jaylen Brown to Houston, per @BrettSiegelNBA “There were talks about a Kevin Durant trade involving Jaylen Brown and Alperen Sengun… Kevin Durant would’ve gone to the Pistons… The Celtics were gonna get Alperen Sengun and then Jaylen Brown would’ve gone to the Rockets… Ultimately Houston did not want that type of package.” (Via @ClutchPoints )

The Sixers were able to acquire an MVP candidate from an Eastern Conference rival while dumping Paul George’s contract. They also upgraded their bench with Dean Wade and Anfernee Simons and landed one of the steals of the draft in Labaron Philon Jr. Mike Gansey is cooking 🔥

Giannis Antetokounmpo was ready to sign off on a trade to Boston, but the Celtics refused to give him the three-year max extension he wanted and were only willing to offer two years, per @BillSimmons (h/t @Savageboston )

The Celtics felt that Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were no longer a championship-caliber duo, per @ShamsCharania “Whether it was personal situations between the two players or whether it was just the on-court basketball fit, the Celtics had just made the determination that, moving forward, they can no longer win a championship, clearly, with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum,” (Via @GetUpESPN / h/t @RealGM )

Teams around the league have been calling the Celtics to inquire about trading for Jayson Tatum, per @ShamsCharania “The Celtics received calls on Jayson Tatum over the last couple of weeks. They shut those down completely, from my understanding. But when it came to Jaylen Brown, they were open to listening, and they have been for quite some time now.” (Via @GetUpESPN / h/t @RealGM )

Cam Reddish is attempting to make an NBA comeback and will play for the Orlando Magic in the Summer League, per @BrettSiegelNBA

Tyler Herro just posted this on his IG story 😅 (h/t @UofBasketball )

“When this trade happened at 3:20 pacific time I had a camera up my ass and I had Paul George being rammed up my ass, and it was happening at the same time” - Bill Simmons (h/t @RealTomPetrini )

Critique basketball all you want… but disease is insane… we gotta stop letting people just say whatever… cmon man!