ESPN’s Brian Windhorst Talks LeBron, Kawhi, LaMelo, Knicks & More with Rich

The most telling thing about LeBron James right now is what he is not doing. He has not made himself available to meet with the Lakers about his free agency. He has, based on his Instagram, been playing golf every day. Brian Windhorst chose those words carefully when he sat down with Rich, and he wanted it understood that he was not drawing a conclusion from them. He was just laying two facts side by side and letting them sit there.

Here is why that matters. The day Windhorst was in studio was June 29, the day before free agency opens and the day every option in every contract comes due. This is decision day. And the Lakers, Windhorst explained, have not even been able to offer LeBron a contract, because he has not made the time. A team gets an exclusive window to negotiate with its own players once the Finals end. The Lakers used theirs to bring Austin Reaves in for a meeting, embroidered pillows and all. With LeBron, there has been silence.

Into that silence walks Golden State. Draymond Green opted out of his contract the day of the interview, which took $28 million off the Warriors' books and dropped them to a level where, as Windhorst put it, "a lot more becomes available." One of the things it opens up is the ability to sign LeBron for $15 million. Green could simply re-sign for $27 million in ten days and nothing changes. But the wrinkle Windhorst kept circling is that Green, LeBron, and Anthony Davis all share the same agent in Rich Paul. He stopped well short of predicting a Warriors super team. He has built a career on a simple rule: actions over words. Last week the actions were the Lakers panicking to keep Reaves and Trae Young landing a $200 million extension. Leverage, Windhorst noted, can look a lot like a plan.

The Kawhi Leonard situation runs on the same logic. Leonard turned 35 the day of the show, is coming off a healthy season and a half, made second-team All-NBA, and would like an extension the Clippers are not ready to give. Shams Charania reported the place he wants to extend is Toronto. Rich remembered the "Kawhi and dine" restaurants from Leonard's championship run there. Windhorst suspects the real draw is money, since the Raptors are willing to extend him.

For sheer comedy, nothing beat Windhorst's draft-night memory: informing a player he had been traded. The kid had pulled on a Pistons hat, hugged Adam Silver, and wandered over to the digital set when Windhorst mentioned Memphis. The player looked at him like he was speaking another language. "No, Pistons," he said. He had no idea the deal sending him to the Grizzlies was already done.

The current that ran under everything was the Knicks, now strange to hear called the champs, and the question of whether Jim Dolan revisits his edict against the second apron. And Dusty May, gone from Rich's beloved Michigan to Dallas. Windhorst's answer was blunt. College coaching is hell because of NIL. May got to draft his own player and coach Cooper Flagg in one move. "It's kind of a no-brainer," Rich admitted. Windhorst did not blame him a bit.