These 4 offseason moves will happen as soon as LeBron James picks his team

At some point, LeBron James presumably will decide where he plans to play basketball next year. When that happens is anyone's guess.

In the meantime, business around the league has largely ground to a halt. Sure, we're still getting the occasional signing or minor trade, but a handful of big-name free agents remain on the market.

Granted, that's a byproduct of LeBron as well. As soon as he decides where he's going, two of the top free agents figure to re-sign with their respective teams. That could open the floodgates for additional moves.

So, as we all wait for King James to make up his mind, here's a preview of what could come shortly after The Decision 2.0.

James Harden re-signs with Cavaliers

This one is already a done deal. According to Joe Vardon of The Athletic, Harden and the Cavaliers "have agreed to the framework and dollar amount of a new contract and are waiting to see if they need the flexibility to sign LeBron (or another free agent) first, which means Harden's salary would be spread out over three seasons instead of two."

At the moment, the Cavaliers are nearly $38 million below the second apron. No matter what happens with James, they'll likely aim to stay below that line, particularly because they finished above it last season.

If the Cavs finish above the second apron in two of the next four seasons, their 2033 first-round pick—which is already "frozen" and therefore unavailable to trade—would automatically be moved to the bottom of the first round. If they finish below the second apron in three of the next four seasons, their 2033 first-round pick will become unfrozen.

Either way, Harden is a lock to return to the Cavs. We just won't know the specifics of his contract until LeBron decides either way.

Draymond Green re-signs with Warriors

The same is true with Draymond Green and the Warriors. Green declined his $27.7 million player option to give the Warriors more financial flexibility in their pursuit of James, but he "is expected to re-sign" with Golden State, according to Nick Friedell and Sam Amick of The Athletic.

Like with Harden, Green is holding off on putting pen to paper until he sees where James winds up and how much it might cost the Warriors to lure him.

The Warriors are currently $28.8 million under the first apron. If they wanted to offer James more than the $6.1 million taxpayer mid-level exception—say, the entire $15.0 million non-taxpayer MLE—that would hard-cap them at the first apron, which wouldn't leave much wiggle room for them to re-sign Green. In that scenario, they might have to look to salary-dump Moses Moody ($12.5 million) before officially re-upping Green.

The Warriors have only 10 players under contract at the moment, so they still have work to do to fill out the rest of their roster. They likely won't do anything—including re-signing Green—until they find out where James is headed.

DeMar DeRozan signs with … ?

The Sacramento Kings waived DeMar DeRozan earlier this month, as only $10 million of his $25.7 million contract for the 2026-27 season was guaranteed. That instantly made him one of the top free agents on the market.

However, his future also appears to be tied to James' decision. According to Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, DeRozan "would become a real possibility" for the Miami Heat if they don't land LeBron, but "Miami and other teams pursuing James are in a holding pattern" with DeRozan for the time being.

The Heat aren't the only ones in pursuit of DeRozan. The Toronto Raptors are interested in a reunion with him, according to longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein, while the Detroit Pistons "are still evaluating the prospect of pursuing" him.

If DeRozan's preference is Miami—perhaps with the remainder of their non-taxpayer MLE?—the Raptors, Pistons and any other interested suitors may have to wait until James makes his decision before DeRozan chooses his next team.

A Jonathan Kuminga sign-and-trade

If the Cavs aren't able to land LeBron, they appear to have their eyes on another forward instead.

On July 2, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported the Cavs had discussed a possible sign-and-trade for Jonathan Kuminga with the Atlanta Hawks. The Lakers later emerged as a potential Kuminga suitor as well, although Dan Woike of The Athletic reported Monday that "momentum has stalled with the sides far apart on terms and L.A. not overly motivated to push significant draft capital into sign-and-trade scenarios."  

Woike added that Cleveland "is the team most-often connected to Kuminga other than the Lakers." ESPN's Anthony Slater noted that Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson overlapped with Kuminga for his first three seasons in Golden State, so Kuminga "has a high level of comfort" with him.

A sign-and-trade would hard-cap the Cavaliers at the first apron, which they're only $25.3 million below at the moment. They'd presumably look to send out Max Strus ($16.7 million), Dennis Schröder ($14.8 million) and/or Sam Merrill ($9.2 million) in any sign-and-trade for Kuminga to leave themselves enough room under the first apron to re-sign Harden.

Either way, James takes priority for now. But if he opts against a homecoming as his last hoorah, the Cavs do appear to have a potential pivot in place.

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