The LeBron James sweepstakes still has the league waiting, but Bill Simmons sounds like he’s already made up his mind.
On his podcast, Simmons said the Golden State Warriors were “being used as a leverage,” and then doubled down with a blunt read on where things are headed: “the Cleveland thing is done.”
That’s the clearest public signal yet that James could be headed back to the Cavaliers, the franchise where his NBA career began. Cleveland has been mentioned alongside the Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat throughout the free agency chatter, but a return to the Cavs would carry obvious weight beyond the storyline.
It would also land James with a team that has real basketball reasons to make the move. The Cavaliers are coming off a deep 2026 NBA Playoffs run before getting swept by eventual NBA champions New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, and James could be the piece that pushes them over the top - the same way he did after his return from the Miami Heat.
Even at 41 and with his 42nd birthday coming in December, James is still producing at a high level. In 60 games with the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2025-26 NBA season, he averaged 20.9 points while shooting 51.5 percent from the field, along with 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds.
For now, though, it’s still a waiting game. Simmons may believe the destination is Cleveland, but until James makes it official, the free agency picture remains open.
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