Why LeBron's a possibility

Uh, we might c- circle back and talk a little about, about Ball, but it's time to talk about LeBron James.

Um, and just tell me, tell me what you're hearing.

Tell me what you're thinking about the possibility of LeBron James actually choosing the Timberwolves over the rest of the, the NBA, which is something we could not have even speculated about or joked about a couple years ago.

Yeah, so we're, uh, we're recording this on Tuesday, uh, evening.

And so if there's certainly any possibility that something happens here tonight, tomorrow, whenever, um, to change things.

But I would say that as things stand right now, one, it seems to be the perception around the league that LeBron is gonna take his time with this decision, and he's going to kind of go through all of the options, talk things over with Rich Paul and his camp, and just kind of really try to get a handle on what the best situation is for him.

And as things stand today, the Timberwolves are very much in the mix for LeBron James.

You're talking about Cleveland, Golden State, uh, Miami, Philadelphia The Wolves.

I might be missing one more, but I don't, I don't think so.

I think those are kind of the main ones that are being talked about in the LeBron James sweepstakes.

And it's funny because on Tuesday morning, uh, w- we at The Athletic did a little round table discussion with writers who are kind of close with all of those teams to try and handicap what the odds are of LeBron James coming to the team that, you know, that we each cover.

And it was interesting that I think most of us really did have the kind of te- position that, yeah, this is a long shot.

Like, I don't, you know, we, we don't know what LeBron is going to do, and it's probably not going to be here, meaning Minnesota.

The Minnesota writer said, "Yeah, long shot to be with the Wolves." The Philadelphia writer said, "Long shot to be with the Sixers." You know, Heat, Cavs, Warriors, they, they're, they're all kind of just sitting back and waiting.

And I think the more time that goes by in this situation, I think m- each organization probably feels a little bit, uh, pessimistic about it.

But I would say, like, to my estimation, and, uh, this is not, like, informed from anything that I'm hearing from the LeBron side at all, but if I'm just looking at this through, through a logical lens, I think the longer that this drags out, the better the Timberwolves chances become.

Because if you think about what LeBron has to process and has to consider, it is fair to say of all of the teams left, Minnesota is probably the most surprising one.

You know, cold winters, no history of winning, um, a lot of things that go into it that just think why would the Timberwolves be in the hunt? Now, they have the great case to make, if you ask me, with basketball fit, with Ant and LaMelo and Rudy and Jaden and Iowa and everyone, Chris Finch, Tim Connelly.

Like, I think that they have really thrown the kitchen sink at LeBron and just said, "We are here for you.

We think this is the best place for you to come and win if you wanna win a championship." And I do think that's gotten LeBron James att- attention.

But, um, if we just go through the other options, like Philadelphia got Jaylen Brown in a, in a blockbuster trade, and they have Maxie, who is a clutch client.

You have Embiid, if he can stay healthy.

They have a really good young team, a good team to put around James, and they just made this blockbuster trade.

"Hey, we have Jaylen Brown.

Like, come on in.