NBA free agency news 2026: LeBron James leaving Lakers, Warriors reportedly in pursuit; Kawhi Leonard reportedly traded to Raptors

Bogdan Bogdanović has reached a one-year deal to join the Houston Rockets this offseason, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Bogdanović averaged 7.4 points per game last season with the Clippers, his first full season with the franchise.

Sharpshooting Cavaliers free agent Dean Wade is joining the rival 76ers on a four-year, $39 million deal, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports.

Wade was a key 3-and-D piece in Cleveland who shot 36.2% from 3 and averaged 5.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.4 blocks in 22 minutes per game. He started 14 of Cleveland’s 18 playoff games last season.

The Chicago Bulls and center Zach Collins agreed to a two-year, $17 million contract extension to keep him in Chicago. He only played 10 games last season for the Bulls due to a fracture in his left wrist and needing season-ending toe surgery.

Luke Kennard is headed to the Suns on a two-year, $13 million deal, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. He split time last season with the Hawks and Lakers.

A handful of smaller deals have landed in the last hour, but it’s been a quiet official start to free agency following the seismic news regarding LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard earlier Tuesday.

Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler is one of the most intriguing pieces in free agency.

He’s a restricted free agent after he reportedly turned down a five-year, $140 million ($37.5M per year) extension offer from the Jazz. Per Tony Jones of The Athletic, he’s drawn interest from multiple teams with offers in the mid to high 30s annually.

The Jazz will have the right to match any offer from another team and could conceivably end up signing Kessler for less than what they offered to begin with if Kessler’s offers end up on the low side of what Jones is reporting.

If he does return to Utah, the 7-2 rim protector would rejoin an intriguing core built around All-Stars Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr., last year’s No. 5 draft pick, Ace Bailey and Darryn Peterson, an explosive, two-way scoring guard with All-NBA upside whom the Jazz selected No. 2 in last week’s NBA Draft.

The deal sending Kawhi Leonard to the Raptors has now been agreed to. In return, the Clippers will get:

Brandon Ingram
Gradey Dick
2027 first-round pick swap
2030 second-round pick
2031 first-round pick
2033 first-round pick
2033 second-round pick

Free agent wing Kelly Oubre Jr. plans to meet with the Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers, among others, Yahoo Sports’ Kelly Iko reported on Tuesday.

Oubre has been in Philadelphia the past three seasons. Last season, he averaged 14.1 points per game and shot an improved 36% from 3.

Tim Hardaway Jr. has agreed to a one-year, $6.5 million deal with the Miami Heat, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Hardaway, 34, has spent 13 seasons in the league, the most recent of which he played with the Denver Nuggets. He finished third in Sixth Man of the Year voting.

During the 2025-26 campaign, Hardaway averaged 13.5 points per game while shooting 40.7% from downtown.

He’s previously suited up for the New York Knicks (2013-15 and 2017-19), Atlanta Hawks (2015-17), Dallas Mavericks (2019-24), Detroit Pistons (2024-25) and Nuggets (2025-26).

Following a report on Tuesday that All-NBA center Jalen Duren was meeting with the Sacramento Kings to facilitate a sign-and-trade from Detroit, it turns out that the Pistons reportedly aren’t interested in that plan.

Per Marc Spears of ESPN, the Pistons don’t plan to trade Duren and intend to match any offer sheet that comes his way. Duren is a restricted free agent, and the Pistons have the right to match any offer Duren receives in order to retain him.

In 70 games last season, Duren averaged 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2 assists, 0.8 blocks and 0.8 steals, making his first NBA All-Star team and earning third-team All-NBA honors. But Duren’s production dropped considerably in the postseason (10.2 points, 8.5 rebounds per game), and the top-seeded Pistons exited in the second round, raising questions about how much the Pistons should invest to retain him.

Per Marc Spears of ESPN, the Washington Wizards don’t intend to trade Anthony Davis.

Davis joined the Wizards via a trade from the Dallas Mavericks last season. He did not play a game for Washington while recovering from a hand injury.

Per a Monday report from Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor, the Golden State Warriors are interested in trading for Davis and signing LeBron James, who confirmed Tuesday that he will pursue free agency instead of exercising his player option to return to the Lakers.

But if Spears’ report holds true, the Wizards aren’t interested in Golden State’s plan. If Davis remains in Washington, he’ll be a key piece of a promising core alongside No. 1 overall draft pick AJ Dybantsa, recent lottery picks Alex Sarr and Tre Johnson and All-Star guard Trae Young, whom the Wizards acquired last season from the Atlanta Hawks.

DeAndre Jordan is coming back for a 19th season in the league. Jordan reached a deal to return to the New Orleans Pelicans, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. He appeared in just 12 games last season with the franchise.

Ousmane Dieng has reached a three-year, $17.5 million deal to return to the Bucks, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Dieng was dealt to Milwaukee in the middle of last season from the Thunder.

With the start of the new league year right around the corner, the NBA officially dropped the salary cap for next season.

The salary cap for the 2026-27 campaign is set at: $164.961 million. By comparison, that’s up about $10 million from last season.

Minimum team salary: $148.465 million
First Apron: $209.015 million
Second Apron: $221.686 million

While it may seem as if the Warriors are favorites to land LeBron James this offseason, he has apparently instructed his agent to speak to everyone in the league who is interested in him.

What that results in, or when we’ll have a decision, is still unknown.

Kawhi Leonard is headed back to Canada.

The Los Angeles Clippers opted against handing the 35-year-old star an extension and instead decided to deal him to the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

The move comes as Leonard is owed $50 million in the final year of his current deal.

In return, the Clippers will receive both Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick. They will also get two future first-round draft picks, a pair of second-round draft picks and a pick swap.

Leonard spent one season with the Raptors, who he helped lead to an NBA title in 2019. That marked the franchise’s only championship since entering the league in 1995. Leonard, who was selected with the No. 15 overall pick in 2011 out of San Diego State and spent his first seven seasons in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs, averaged 26.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game that season while earning NBA Final MVP honors for the second time in his career. He also won a title with the Spurs in 2014.

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The NBA’s free agency negotiation window opens up Tuesday, June 30 at 6 p.m. ET, and there will be no shortage of interest in James’ services.

The Golden State Warriors are “at the front of the line in pursuit of LeBron James,” per NBA insider Marc Stein . ESPN’s Shams Charania reporte d on Monday that the Warriors had a goal to assemble a “big four” of James, Stephen Curry , Draymond Green and Anthony Davis , who currently plays for the Washington Wizards . Despite reports from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst that a trade for Davis is now looking less likely , the Warriors remain in pursuit.

There has also been some speculation that James could opt to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers to potentially close out his career with his hometown team, where he played the first seven years of his career and won his third NBA title in 2016. The Cavs reportedly have interest in a second reunion with James, according to insider Chris Haynes . James is the Cavs’ all-time leader in points (23, 119), rebounds (6,190), assists (6,228) and steals (1,376).

Earlier this week, Cavs star James Harden declined his $42.3 million player option to work on a new, multi-year contract.

The Warriors are current favorites to land James in free agency with -500 odds per DraftKings , with the Cavaliers at +300, Heat at +1000 and Spurs at +2000.

LeBron James is running it back — but not with the Los Angeles Lakers .

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania , James has informed the Lakers he will look to play elsewhere for the 2026-27 season.

The news quells speculation that James would retire at the end of the 2025-26 campaign at 41 years old.

Despite his age and the advanced basketball miles on his body, James averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds in 60 games as one of the most productive players in the league. Alongside Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves , James helped lead the Los Angeles Lakers to the No. 4 seed in a stacked Western Conference.

With Dončić and Reaves each sidelined for at least part of the Lakers’ first-round series against the Houston Rockets , James took over to lead Los Angeles to a 4-2 win. But the Lakers fell in the second round via a four-game sweep by the Oklahoma City Thunder .