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On Wednesday, during an appearance on ESPN Cleveland, Brian Windhorst revealed that if James is willing to accept the major pay cut the Cavaliers could offer, he’s “99%” certain James would return to Cleveland. “Number one, you look at how productive he is. Assuming he’s roughly the same player next year as he is now — when his legs feel good, he’s still highly impactful," Windhorst said. "He’s not great defensively, especially on nights when he doesn’t have it, but on nights when he does, he can still be a playmaker on both ends. “The second thing is he would only come at a discount. The only way the Cavs could add him is to get him to play at either the minimum or maybe do some moves to create flexibility with the tax mid-level exception… From the Cavs’ perspective, it’s simple. Basically, they say to LeBron: if you want to play with us, this is what we can offer. "If he’s able and willing to accept that, I think it’s 99%.”
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst says the Minnesota Timberwolves have “moved on” from their pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo. This comes after the Timberwolves dealt Rob Dillingham, Leonard Miller and four second-round picks to the Chicago Bulls to acquire Ayo Dosunmu on Thursday morning. But Windhorst believes the Heat are still in the mix for Antetokounmpo. “The Miami Heat are still out there,” Windhorst said on ESPN’s First Take. “And the Heat, the last I heard, were still trying to make moves to improve their offer that they can make to Milwaukee. ... That said, the Heat can make a better offer, a more aggressive pick-rich offer later this summer. So teams in the league right now that it is most likely that Giannis stays put. But Miami is still there. And I want to point out that I will never put anything past Andy Elisburg, their GM, and the aggression of Pat Riley. So, keep an eye with Miami.”
Brian Windhorst: There's a couple of other teams out there that have shown interest. Cleveland has shown some interest in Giannis, but they are in a position with James Harden now where they've sort of picked the lane. Portland has sniffed around Giannis. They have the Bucks draft picks and draft assets from the Damian Lillard trade, but these are not compelling things. So, unless there's a secret thing going on, I'm not feeling Giannis Antetokounmpo moving right now. And Giannis has not forced the issue and that is probably going to be a factor.
Brian Windhorst: Bobby, if you were going to offer an enormous amount of draft capital or young players or whatever you would do, that you would want and have a pretty good idea that Giannis Antetokounmpo was going to take your extension. And that extension I believe it can be four years and what, 270 something like that? Bobby Marks: 275. Actually, if he opted in and then extended for three years, he probably can make another million dollars. So, I mean, it's kind of like pick whatever one you want to do. Windhorst: Well, one thing I know about Giannis is that he does consider the money. The money is not just insignificant to him. He talks about it. That's one of the things like if you're in one of the Texas teams you can say ‘hey, State income tax.’ But it's also a consideration for the team. The team giving him 275 million for a guy who's 31 years old who is having calf problems. I think most teams would say yes, but I'm not sure everybody would. In fact, I know that there's one team I talked to who would be able to put a package together, a pretty compelling package, and they said, "We're just not crazy about that contract with our other options that we can do. Just don't know if we want to commit to 275 to him.”
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The Golden State Warriors have the most attractive package to offer the Milwaukee Bucks for two-time MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, per ESPN's Brian Windhorst. "The Golden State Warriors are a team that immediately rises to the top of the list," Windhorst said on NBA Today. " As far as the teams that can make a straight up trade with the Bucks. ... The Warriors hold all their future draft assets, they can trade all of them.
NBA Courtside: Brian Windhorst on LeBron and Jeanie Buss: "For 20 plus years now, part of dealing with LeBron is dealing with headaches. Sometimes he is going to upset you but whatever he does to upset you he makes up for it x10. x20. x50. That was the case in Cleveland, Miami, and now in LA. Has Jeanie been upset with LeBron at times? Absolutely. Would she give anything back about the last 8 years? Absolutely not!"
Brian Windhorst: The Spurs and the Pistons are two teams that are faced with that sort of same situation. They both have extra draft capital. They both have expiring contracts. They both have, you know, young pieces other people want. Like, it's going to be some temptation. And I'm not saying the Spurs will resist, but I would be stunned if they gave Stephon Castle away for almost anything.
Brian Windhorst: The trend in the league right now is that depth and flexibility are valued more than sort of star talent. Now, superstar talent, there's always a demand. If you're going to put Luka on the market, like there will be those that's a trade that's going to get done. If Giannis comes to market, it's still an if, whether it's this season or next summer, a trade will get done. But there's this collection of players out there who are big on salary and a lot of them have some red mark on their CV whether it's an injury history or maybe their age or they want a new contract. Like these are guys that you would have no problem trading two, three years ago that because of the reality of the aprons and because of the way teams are prioritizing depth and team building in the apron era where it's just harder to trade them.
We asked Brian Windhorst how he views NBA Europe and how much it’s talked about in the United States. “Very little. The NBA will do what it wants. I don’t believe it will be successful, because I think there isn’t enough talent in the EuroLeague right now. I also think it will be very challenging to create teams from scratch and expect results. I completely understand why the NBA is doing this, and I’m sure they’ll try. I hope it succeeds, because I think that if there were a very strong European championship, competitions could be created with the NBA, with Africa, Australia, and Asia, and that would be fantastic.”
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Still, he doesn’t hide that he’s skeptical. “I’m skeptical because I’ve spent a lot of time in Europe, and Europeans don’t experience basketball the way Americans do. You can’t just take an American league, put it in Europe, and say: ‘Here, play.’ It simply doesn’t work that way. And from what I’ve heard about this league, they’re trying to transfer the American league to Europe. That’s why I understand why they’re doing it. I hope it works, because if you’re investing in basketball in Europe, that’s probably a good thing. You could also argue the opposite: the reason European basketball isn’t stronger is that there hasn’t been enough investment, and someone has to do that—and it hasn’t been done enough in Europe. Americans believe there’s a lot of untapped potential and that they can develop it.”
We also asked him for his opinion on the All-Star Game, where this year Team USA will play against Team World. The NBA’s goal is to make the game itself more interesting. “I hope that’s true, but I’m skeptical it will happen. It would be great for the All-Star Game if Team World won. But I’ve given up on the All-Star Game. I don’t go anymore. Last year I didn’t even watch it. I couldn’t tell you a single thing that happened in last year’s All-Star Game. If the Americans play at full intensity and the World—basically Europeans and Canadians—play at full strength and the World wins, that would be great. I think the NBA would secretly love for the World to win, so there’d be a little shame among the Americans. But my problem is that I know there actually wouldn’t be any shame. When it comes to an exhibition game, Americans are just there to have fun.”
ESPN is rolling out a fresh look for NBA Countdown, adding new voices and upgraded technology as the network prepares for its next slate of marquee game nights. The revamped studio team will debut Wednesday, November 19, at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and the ESPN App. Senior writer Brian Windhorst joins the program after signing a multi-year extension with the network. His addition strengthens a panel that will now feature 2023 NBA champion head coach Michael Malone and 2008 NBA champion Kendrick Perkins as analysts.
Two weeks into the 2025-26 NBA season, ESPN has re-signed one of its top talents. On Friday, the network announced that it has agreed to a multi-year contract extension with Brian Windhorst, who will continue in his role as an NBA senior writer. According to a release, the Akron, Ohio, native will “continue to provide insights and analysis across ESPN platforms.”
