{"id":2020505,"date":"2026-07-01T05:17:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T02:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2020505"},"modified":"2026-07-01T05:17:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T02:17:54","slug":"timberwolves-among-teams-to-contact-lebron-james-in-free-agency-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2020505","title":{"rendered":"Timberwolves among teams to contact LeBron James in free agency: Sources"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 The Minnesota Timberwolves have precious little money to spend and a freezing cold winter waiting ahead, which makes luring LeBron James in free agency one of the longest of long shots.<\/p>\n

With a player as talented and cerebral as James is, and a spot in their starting lineup that fits him perfectly, the Wolves had to at least let him know they would love to have him in Minnesota. And that\u2019s exactly what they are doing. After James informed the Los Angeles Lakers\u00a0he would not be returning<\/a> and would instead seek out another team to play for next season, the Wolves were one of several teams to reach out Tuesday and express interest in bringing James aboard, team and league sources that spoke on condition of anonymity to describe ongoing deliberations told The Athletic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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The Wolves would be silly not to ask now James is on the open market. They have a roster teeming with young talent headlined by Anthony Edwards, plenty of defenders to ease his burden on that side of the floor and an opening at power forward after trading Julius Randle and Naz Reid to help make room for their acquisition of LaMelo Ball<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers have all been mentioned as preferred landing spots for James. The Wolves do not believe they\u2019re anywhere near the front of the line for James\u2019 services, the team and league sources said, especially considering their lack of spending power<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"LeBron<\/p>\n
\n
\n LeBron James\u2019 next team? Here\u2019s the case for six potential landing spots\n <\/div>\n
\n Home to Cleveland? Join Steph and Draymond in the Bay Area? Return to South Beach? Where should LeBron take his talents next?\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

After agreeing to terms with Bones Hyland on a one-year, league minimum deal Tuesday, the Timberwolves have two roster spots to fill and just a hair above the league minimum<\/a> for one of those spots. They could try to trade Josh Green, who was acquired in the Ball trade and has an expiring $14.7 million contract to try to add a power forward or more spending wiggle room, but the Wolves are intrigued by Green\u2019s talent, and nothing was materializing immediately on that front, the team and league sources said.<\/p>\n

Wolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly has proved to be one of the league\u2019s most aggressive executives since coming to Minnesota in 2022, so it comes as no surprise they are letting James\u2019 camp know they are interested.<\/p>\n

If James is prioritizing a chance at a fifth championship over money, the Timberwolves can make a compelling argument. James has long been a fan of Edwards, and the two won Olympic gold together in Paris last summer.<\/p>\n

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The Wolves also have top-flight defenders Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels to put around James, reducing the need for James to expend so much energy on that end as he did last season with the Lakers. Offensively, Edwards and Ball could handle a lot of the heavy lifting, and James could use his superior basketball IQ to facilitate and score in clutch situations.<\/p>\n

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Perhaps most importantly, the Wolves have a young enough core that James would not need to carry a heavy regular-season burden. The 41-year-old could manage his minutes in an effort to have his gas tank full for another deep playoff push. A starting lineup of Ball, Edwards, McDaniels, James and Gobert would be one of the most formidable groups in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Why<\/p>\n
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\n Why LeBron and the Lakers separating was the only way for both to get what they want\n <\/div>\n
\n This was the only way \u2014 a means for both LeBron James and Los Angeles to get the things that would\u2019ve been impossible without a separation.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Landing James is a highly unlikely scenario, and the Wolves were moving ahead with other business Tuesday to round out the roster by bringing back Hyland.<\/p>\n

Hyland will return to the team that helped him re-establish himself as a rotation-worthy NBA player after two years of sporadic play with the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers. Hyland played in 71 games for the Wolves last season, averaging 8.5 points, 2.6 assists and shooting 39 percent from the 3-point range.<\/p>\n

Hyland grew to be fast friends with Edwards and proved to be one of the more dynamic players in the Wolves backcourt. He teamed up with Ayo Dosunmu to form the \u201cTwin Turbos,\u201d a pairing that gave one of the slower-paced teams in the league some much-needed speed and transition game. He will give the Wolves some needed depth at point guard behind Ball.<\/p>\n

Hyland\u2019s story of resilience served as an inspiration in the locker room. Connelly drafted Hyland in the first round in 2021 while leading Denver\u2019s front office. Hyland had a strong rookie season but fell out of favor and was traded to the Clippers in Year 2. He played only sparingly in Los Angeles and signed a two-way contract with the Wolves in 2025 before beating out Rob Dillingham for a rotation spot last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe past two years that I haven\u2019t been playing, I learned so much,\u201d Hyland said in March. \u201cFirst, you mature as a person first. And second, you have a sit-down with yourself. What am I doing wrong? It\u2019s not always about what you\u2019re doing right. What am I doing wrong? Let\u2019s dive into that and figure out, maybe hey, lock in more on this, lock in more on that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"From<\/p>\n
\n
\n From tragedy to exile to new life in Minnesota, Bones Hyland embraces the journey\n <\/div>\n
\n Every March, the smoke returns to Hyland’s memory. In Minnesota, he smells opportunity.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Coach Chris Finch was impressed by Hyland\u2019s willingness to adapt and appreciated having his upbeat personality in the locker room. Bringing him back as another playmaker and shooter, especially given Ball\u2019s past injury issues, was a strong first step into free agency for Minnesota.<\/p>\n

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Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI love having him on the team,\u201d Finch said during the season. \u201cHe\u2019s the same every day. He\u2019s a super happy guy. He\u2019s one of these guys who brings joy to the game in the way that he plays it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wolves are still on the lookout for a power forward, though they could go into the season with McDaniels in that spot. Even so, having more depth behind him would be advisable, but the market is a challenging one. Dean Wade agreed to terms in Philadelphia, and Precious Achiuwa re-signed in Sacramento before the opening bell. Rui Hachimura, Tobias Harris, Sandro Mamukelashvili and John Collins all figured to want more money than the Wolves can offer.<\/p>\n

The Wolves do have some flexibility with their lineups. Terrence Shannon Jr. could start at small forward or power forward. If Finch is looking for a sleeker lineup, Dosunmu could start at the three, and McDaniels could be bumped down to four.<\/p>\n

Because the Wolves have so little money to spend, they might have to wait out the market to see who is left after the music stops. It probably won\u2019t be James, but the idea of LeBron in Minnesota is tantalizing enough to wait out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 The Minnesota Timberwolves have precious little money to spend and a freezing cold winter waiting ahead, which makes luring LeBron James in free agency one of the longest of long shots. With a player as talented and cerebral as James is, and a spot in their starting lineup that fits him perfectly, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-2020505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2020505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2020505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2020505\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2020505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2020505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2020505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}