Ah, free agency is back.It technically starts Sunday at 12:01 a.m. EDT in the East, 9:01 p.m. Saturday out West, but is already well underway everywhere in the sense that
everybody is talking about what might happen. James is once again the biggest
domino that will fall; he may opt out of his contract, but that doesn’t mean
he’ll leave Cleveland – and he may opt in for nearly $36 million next season,
but that doesn’t mean he’s certain to be staying, either.Boston guard Kyrie Irving has a word for these days: Pre-agency.”That’s actually a title to describe what’s going on now,” Irving said. ”But yeah, we know that 12 a.m. July 1st, that’s when it just starts getting
nutty.”James is hardly the only person who will create that nuttiness.Paul George has a decision to make about his future; stay in Oklahoma City or move on, with the Los Angeles Lakers believed to be his dream destination. San
Antonio has big decisions to make about Kawhi Leonard; they can take a risk and
keep him for the final year of his contract http://www.giantsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-cody-latimer-jersey , offer him a new deal or trade him elsewhere. And what happens in their cases
will surely impact what James does, much in the same way the Chris Bosh decision
in 2010 helped really pave the way for him to go to Miami.Thing is, nobody knows what’ll happen. Hence, the intrigue.”That’s the challenge in this league,” James said during the NBA Finals, when his Cavaliers were swept by Golden State. ”I think every GM and every president
and ev
ery coaching staff is trying to figure out how they can make up the right matchups to compete for a championship and win a championship.”The Los Angeles Lakers will have about $61 million in cap space; half the league might not have any. So this summer, with cap space for most teams at a
premium, the biggest moves might have to come through trades.”There has been a lot of discussion with a lot of teams about a lot of players,” Heat President Pat Riley said. ”I just feel there’s a restlessness on
the part of teams, and also there’s a reluctance to do things. … It’s hard to
pull the trigger on that kind of thing.”Golden State’s Kevin Durant will be a free agent in name only – he’s already said he’s returning to the Warriors. Golden State will spend free agency
bolstering its bench, and the best team in the NBA should be better in the next
couple of weeks.All that’s left to decide there is what terms Durant wants.”Whatever he wants,” Golden State general manager Bob Myers said. ”Sometimes you don’t negotiate. … He’s earned the right to sign whatever deal he wants. I
just want him to sign `a’ deal. I want him to be happy and want him to know that
we want him as long as he wants to be here. He’s earned that Josh Tomlin Cleveland Indians Jersey , to kind of lay out the terms.”Philadelphia isn’t tampering, but isn’t being shy: Both coach Brett Brown and newly minted rookie of the year Ben Simmons have come out this offseason and
said how much a great veteran will help their team.”Maybe that is a free agent, a big free agent who we can lean on and learn from,” Simmons said.He didn’t say ”LeBron,” but sure sounds like James.Houston will look to add James as well in an effort to find the formula that will supplant the Warriors. The Rockets nearly ousted Golden State in the
Western Conference finals, wasting double-digit leads in both Game 6 and Game 7
of that series – all while Chris Paul, who seems likely to stay in Houston but
could choose to leave, was sidelined with a bad hamstring.But Rockets star James Harden, the NBA’s MVP, didn’t sound like he would be clamoring for James to come to Houston.”I don’t think there is a piece that we need to bring in or take away,” Harden said. ”We’re great with what we have.”Miami is the place where James left Cleveland for once before, and it’s clear that he still enjoys South Florida. And the rumors about him and the Lakers have
swirled for some time http://www.vikingsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-kendall-wright-jersey , though Lakers President Magic Johnson – perhaps offering a word of caution –
said the rebuild of his team will take two summers.”We don’t know what people are going to decide to do and we can’t control that,” Johnson said. ”So if guys decide not to come here, it’s not a failure. We
turn to next summer. Next summer, if nobody comes and I’m still sitting here
like this, then it’s a failure.”James isn’t looking to fail. But until he decides where he can win, everyone waits.—AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney contributed to this story.—On the morning of June 18 two years ago, the Atlanta Braves were 21-46. Now they’re atop the NL East.Atlanta has turned its stocked farm system into a major league contender faster than expected, and after Sunday’s 4-1 win over San Diego, the Braves lead
second-place Washington by 3 1/2 games. At 42-29, they’re even with Milwaukee
for the National League’s best record and look poised to be a factor in what
should be an entertaining race for that league’s five postseason spots.After three straight seasons with at least 90 losses, Atlanta is making a jump similar to what Minnesota did a season ago, when the Twins improved from 59
wins to 85 and earned a wild card.If you’re worried Atlanta is a fluke http://www.broncosauthorizedshops.com/authentic-daesean-hamilton-jersey , there aren’t many obvious red flags. The Braves have a run differential of
plus-67, the second-best mark in the NL. They’ve been fortunate at times (11-4
in one-run games) and unfortunate at times (1-6 in extra innings).The Braves are second in the NL in OPS after finishing 11th a year ago. Their ERA has improved from 12th to fifth. They have an MVP candidate in slugger
Freddie Freeman, and 21-year-old second baseman Ozzie Albies has 16 home runs.
Outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. is on the disabled list after a knee injury, but
he’s been considered one of the game’s top prospects. Shortstop Dansby Swanson,
the No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft, has improved his OPS from .636 a season ago to
.737.That formula – Freeman surrounded by young standouts – could serve the Braves well for a while, and Atlanta has also received a lift from some older
contributors. Nick Markakis is hitting .327, and Anibal Sanchez is 3-0 with a
1.93 ERA for the Braves after signing a minor league contract before the
season.In November, Atlanta was hit with major penalties for circumventing international signing rules. That might hurt the Braves in the future, but it
doesn’t seem to have had much of an effect on their ability to compete in
2018.Other developments from around the majors:MIDSEASON RUNThe Dodgers are 11-3 in June and have recovered from their poor start. They now trail Arizona by just 1 1/2 games atop the NL West.Los Angeles can hope this season is following a similar trajectory to 2017, when the Dodgers went 21-7 in June on their way to 104 wins.HIGHLIGHTIf you’re concerned about pace of play in baseball, you probably weren’t crazy about Joe Maddon’s maneuvering Wednesday. Maddon began the bottom of the
eighth by bringing Steve Cishek in to pitch for the Cubs. After a
single http://www.ravensauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jaleel-scott-jersey , Brian Duensing came on to pitch, but Cishek stayed in the game in left field.
That enabled Cishek to go back to the mound one out later, with Duensing taking
over in left. Duensing eventually went back to pitch and finished out the
inning.It was a clever way for Maddon to keep both pitchers available throughout the inning, but Chicago still lost 1-0 to Milwaukee.LINE OF THE WEEKSan Diego’s Freddy Galvis went 5 for 5, including a three-run homer, in a 9-3 win over Atlanta on Friday night. Galvis drove in four runs in the game.—.
