Charania Over a dozen teams made minimum and midlevel exception offers to Dame Two teams in particular I'm told that Damian Lillard really considered Celtics and the Timberwolves He held calls with both teams at different points

Charania Rich Paul has met with multiple teams and has given LeBron all the information needed to make a decision but there is no timeline for the coming weeks Miami Cleveland and Philadelphia seem to be the likeliest options with Golden State and Minnesota still in the mix

Charania Over the last 3-4 weeks teams were calling the Celtics on Jayson Tatum Their answer was hard stop No we're not trading Tatum Untouchable Jaylen Brown different story Open for business Give us your best offer That's the dichotomy They treated Brown different than Tatum

Charania The teams that are currently the leading suitors to sign superstar free agent LeBron James Cleveland Miami Golden State Philadelphia and Minnesota

Charania The Philadelphia 76ers are trying to make a pitch to free agent LeBron James The Warriors Cavaliers Heat 76ers and maybe one or two other teams are in the mix for James

Charania If you are a NBA team that has contending aspirations LeBron James according to my sources it is not a financially driven decision That means if you want to slot him in if you want to pitch him on a minimum pitch him on an exception pitch him on a non-max contract

CharaniaMy understanding the Celtics were unwilling to include young players like Hugo Gonzalez Baylor Scheierman I had a few people tell me last night you gotta get a deal done if youre the Celtics when you put a player like Jaylen Brown on the table