NBA

The day that LeBron James announced for the second time that he was leaving his hometown team — is a date that will have an impact on the Cavaliers franchise for years to come.

But a date that arguably helped to seal this fate for the Cavs? June 19, 2017 — the day the Cavs and former general manager David Griffin decided to part ways.

This simple Site Manager felt that the selection of Jaren Jackson Jr. was a pick for the future, a future that the Memphis Grizzlies had publicly stated they were not as concerned with as they were the present. It wasn’t that Jackson couldn’t be the best player eventually in this draft - quite the contrary. The potential was always there for him to be great.

Yet for a capped out roster designed to compete immediately, the selection of Jackson Jr. felt like an indirect slap in the face. “We want to win now...but pay no attention to the 18-year old we just took #4 overall behind the curtain.” That is how it felt.

DeMarcus Cousins secured himself one of the few reliable things in this world on Monday night — a Golden State Warriors championship. He made the move that was the best for him, that would make him happy, and one that he deserved.

The Warriors already had the NBA world in “simulate the season to the end” more. They’ve won two championships since adding Kevin Durant in 2016, and by adding Cousins, they could have (probably) ordered their championship rings yesterday while the rest of the league got an early start on with 2019 free agency.

I’m irrationally excited about the Indiana Pacers, who haven’t done anything more than what they were supposed to do this summer. With a savvy late first-round draft pick and a couple of low-key veteran signings, general manager Kevin Pritchard has turned a good team into a better one, at least on paper.

That’s how the offseason is supposed to work, especially for a young team on the way up, like Pritchard’s Pacers. What’s weird about this offseason is that virtually no one else has bothered to go out and improve themselves this summer.

Amar’e Stoudemire has been keeping busy in retirement. In addition to becoming an avid art collector and world traveler, the former All-NBA big man has signed on to spend part of his summer playing in Ice Cube’s Big 3 league.

SB Nation had the opportunity to talk to Stoudemire in a career-spanning interview ahead of the Big 3’s stop in Chicago last week. We discussed his jump from high school to the NBA, ushering in the league’s modern era with the Phoenix Suns, the high stakes free agency summer of 2010 and his favorite Boris Diaw stories.

SMART Araneta Coliseum, the Philippines’ Mecca of sports and entertainment, lives up to its reputation as back-to-back NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant returns to the Philippines and caps off his visit with “Hyper Court Team” All-Star Challenge here on Sunday, July 8 at 4 p.m.

This is the second time Durant is visiting the country and the Big Dome, seven years after joining fellow All-Stars Kobe Bryant, James Harden, Chris Paul, and Derrick Rose, among others, for an exhibition game against Gilas Pilipinas national team.

The Warriors will look to finish the California Classic undefeated in their third of three games today before heading to Las Vegas

One of the questions that came up in discussing Jacob Evans’ fit after he was drafted by the Golden State Warriors was whether he’d be consistent enough from the 3-point line to become a complementary threat on offense.

Billed as a 3-and-D player entering the draft, a couple of Lakers blogs raised concerns about whether he had been tinkering with his shot mechanics after a poor shooting workout in L.A.

Uh, so free agency is RIDICULOUS.

Free agent DeMarcus Cousins has agreed to a deal with the Golden State Warriors, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo. The deal is for one year and $5.3 million, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to sign veteran point guard Rajon Rondo, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. It is a one-year deal worth $9 million, according to Yahoo!’s Shams Charania. The move is the latest of wild Lakers acquisitions that have followed the blockbuster signing of LeBron James.

Magic Johnson didn’t care that people said he couldn’t just sign the biggest free agents. He wanted LeBron James, so he was going to go get LeBron James.

A week ago at the introductory press conference for the two newest rookie members of the Los Angeles Lakers, Magic Johnson made it clear he wasn’t worried about free agency.